Tactile 3D Models and Tech Advances Empower Blind Parents During Pregnancy

When I attended pregnancy scans a decade ago, the best the sonographer could do to involve this blind expectant mum was to turn up the volume on the heartbeat.

But now, parents like me can receive tactile 3D models created from their scans, allowing them to have a special moment with their unborn baby.

Reece Finnegan-Knight, who has been blind since his teens, is one of the first people to experience a 3D-printed model of his baby's scan with his wife, Sophy, as part of a new pilot scheme.

At their routine 12-week scan, Sophy had attempted to describe what she was seeing for Reece, but he struggled to feel involved in the moment.

Afterwards, when the couple showed the sonogram to their loved ones, Reece said it felt like "friends and family knew more about my baby than I did".

But he said the 20-week scan was more positive.

"The sonographer described everything to me, and explained why what she was seeing meant that everything looked good," he says.

They also now have the model of their 20-week scan picture, through the scheme by the charity Guide Dogs.

"I can't stop feeling it to be honest," Reece says.

"It's so nice to be able to fully access something without the need for other people's descriptions or interpretations. It has enough detail that I know what things are and it just makes everything feel more real."

It's an innovation which has made me reflect on my own experiences of pregnancy and parenting.

Before my partially sighted husband and I started trying for kids, I researched absolutely everything it would entail, from how to use specialist apps to read pregnancy test results, to the bells and squeaky shoes I could use to keep tabs on a fast-moving toddler.

I immediately discovered a community of people in my position ready to share their wisdom, and a host of tried and tested workarounds for almost every scenario.

But a decade on, there are even more advances, and I've spoken to other blind parents to find out the best ways they tackle the challenges they face.

For Kim and Sean Randall, who have a teenager and an 11-month-old, the progress of technology is one of the biggest changes they have noticed in the 15 years between the births of their children.

For their youngest child, maternity notes came in an app which could be accessed with a screen reader on their phone, rather than being handwritten in the traditional NHS blue book.

Kim says it put her on more of an equal footing with other expectant parents, and helped her feel more in control.

"I could check the notes, and any test results, when I wanted rather than waiting to have them read to me," she says.

For the 20-week scan, she says Sean had researched the meaning of the different numbers on an ultrasound - like the baby's thigh length or head circumference - and used a specialist AI screen-reading app to have the text read out and the images described.

Some parents say they prefer this method to a 3D model, because they can get more detail from audio description of the image than from physical touch.

But it's not just scans where visually impaired parents can struggle.

Reece, like many blind parents, says he wants to be extra prepared for when the baby comes, "so I don't get in the way or feel like a liability".

"We've been labelling clothes, putting Braille in baby books and organising the baby bag so that I know where everything is," he says.

Kim, meanwhile, runs Facebook and WhatsApp groups for blind mums. Together, we have collated a host of tips and tricks from blind parents over the years for what to do when the baby arrives.

They include things like:

Carry your own folding mat for nappy changes and always have everything you need close at hand

When changing a nappy, if you think you can stop, "keep wiping" - and use barrier cream, because the start of a nappy rash can be hard to feel

Score a raised mark on any syringes or scoops you might use for making up feeds so you know where to fill them to

Use a baby carrier or pram which can be pulled as well as pushed, in case you walk with a guide dog or cane in front of you to get around

Once they start toddling, bells clipped to clothing are a handy way of knowing where they are at home

When weaning, use a wipeable high chair with a waterproof mat underneath, to keep mess contained and know what they've eaten and what's gone on the floor

The Royal National Institute of Blind People , external(RNIB) has also produced guides for expectant parents and those with young children.

They suggest ideas like using baby gates to block off the kitchen when you are removing something from the oven, or the hall when you are answering the door.

For parents who have some but not total visual impairment, Kim says children can be dressed in brightly coloured clothing while out and about so they are easier to spot.

"I put them in feelable clothes so I don't grab the wrong child," says Kim, who has no vision.

"One of my favourites is a shirt with a castle on it. You open the door and there's a dragon inside."

When her eldest started walking, she says "we always held hands, but had a wrist strap connecting us in case she tried to run off".

For me, clothes pegs were always useful for keeping outfits together wherever possible.

Also consider buying socks the same style and colour - matching those is still a nightmare for me a decade later. If two items feel the same but are different colours, cut the label on one of them.

Parents Reece and Sophy are just at the start of their journey, but are making sure they are fully prepared for what lies ahead.

As the due date rapidly approaches, they were given a hospital tour as an accessibility requirement.

For Reece, knowing his way around the maternity ward beforehand means he can be "more independent and able to support Sophy as her birthing partner".

My own children are older now, and I look back at those early years with gratitude for the blind parents before me who figured out the workarounds and gave reassurance when others' attitudes or new challenges caused me to lose confidence.

I now pay that forward whenever possible. For blind parents, that community exists and is ready to be a source of support.

And remember, when you think you can stop, always keep wiping.