// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
I never got to experience my baby's scan but blind parents like me can now feel them
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".
"The sonographer described everything to me, and explained why what she was seeing meant that everything looked good," he says.
Reece says he wants to be able to fully support his wife Sophy as her due date approaches
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."