Mommy 4D Ultrasound in Bixby Knolls has been giving expectant parents a first look at their child’s face since 2014. On Friday, owner Katrina Stevenson will be traveling to Ghana to do the same for parents in Kwabenya, Accra and Ashongmam.
“Some of them do get teary eyed,” Stevenson said of customers who come into Mommy 4D Ultrasound. “Some of them start automatically comparing and saying who the baby looks like or who they think the baby will look like and stuff so they get full of emotions.”
Stevenson will be sharing this experience with expectant mothers in Ghana from Aug. 9 to Aug. 12, where she will team up with a local obstetrician/gynecologist and nurse to provide 3D ultrasounds for pregnant mothers at a women’s clinic and a church.
Mommy 4D Ultrasound offers 3D and 4D ultrasounds. A traditional ultrasound takes a two dimensional image of the baby in the womb, while a 3D ultrasound converts multiple two dimensional images taken at different angles into a three dimensional image, allowing the viewer to see the baby’s face and hands in greater detail. For a 4D ultrasound, a series of chronological 3D images can then be shown to illustrate the baby’s movements.
Stevenson was working as an ultrasound tech when she realized that there weren’t any businesses in Long Beach offering 3D or 4D ultrasounds, and opened Mommy 4D Ultrasound in 2014.
In an effort to make 3D ultrasounds available to all pregnant moms in the community, Stevenson has been offering free 5-minute ultrasound sessions during the neighborhood’s monthly First Friday community celebrations.
“Putting smiles on the moms’ faces, that’s my favorite thing,” Stevenson said.
She has also set up a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds so she can buy supplies to donate to the expectant mothers she meets on her trip, such as bottles, diapers, strollers, carriers and more. The campaign has raised $2,730 as of Thursday, Aug. 4.
“This will be the first time they’ve ever seen anything outside of a 2D ultrasound,” Stevenson said. “So with the 3D ultrasound they’ll be able to see their baby’s facial features in 3D.”
Those who aren’t far enough along in their pregnancies to see their baby’s facial features will still receive 2D ultrasounds that will be printed out for them and uploaded to their phones.
In September, Mommy 4D Ultrasound will be rebranding itself as Babes & Bellies, and will extend its services to also include prenatal and postnatal massages and life casings (plaster molds) of bellies and babies.
Mommy 4D Ultrasound, 4134 Atlantic Ave. #204, is open from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday.
