Guide Dogs UK pilot tactile sonograms for expectant parents with sight loss
Charity's ‘First Hello’ program turns 20-week baby scans into 3D printed sonograms that can be read by touch
Guide Dogs UK has started a pilot program that converts standard 20-week pregnancy ultrasound scans into 3D printed tactile sonograms, producing a physical version of the scan image that blind and partially sighted people can read with their hands. The program, named First Hello, has been opened up to expectant parents and to family members and friends with a vision impairment.
The 20-week scan is delivered in routine antenatal care as an on-screen image and a printed copy, neither of which is accessible to a parent who cannot see it. Guide Dogs has positioned First Hello as a way of giving that appointment back to blind and partially sighted parents, with the tactile version handed to them to examine directly rather than described to them by someone else.
A scan read by hand
Reece, a parent-to-be who took part in the pilot, described receiving the tactile version of his baby’s scan.
“Holding the tactile scan for the very first time was an incredible experience,” he said. “I didn’t feel like I got much from our first scan appointments, and I found it really hard thinking that friends and family knew more about my baby than I did.
“First Hello gave that moment back to me. It’s so important because it’s giving parents like me that special moment.”
Guide Dogs extended the service beyond parents to relatives and friends with sight loss, a group excluded from the scan appointment itself, and is taking orders for First Hello sonograms through a dedicated site, guidedogs-ultrasound.co.uk.
