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For parents-to-be, the ultrasound is typically a powerful moment: They get a first glimpse of their child. But traditional ultrasound technology doesn鈥檛 allow that experience for people who are visually impaired.

So a doctor in Maryland has turned to 3D printing technology for a touching solution. Using specialized ultrasound technology, she was able to print a model of the face of the fetus that the expectant parents could feel.聽

In recent years, 3D printing has been used for all kinds of innovations 鈥� silly and meaningful alike. People have printed art, musical instruments, prostheses, and even

Receiving the 3D printed model was 鈥�,鈥� Taylor Ellis, the mother-to-be, told The Washington Post. 鈥淚 was a little bit nervous about opening the box,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 had never seen a 3-D [image], and now, it鈥檚 your baby, and it鈥檚, like, wow.鈥�

For Melissa Riccobono, president of the Maryland Parents of Blind Children, who is visually impaired herself, this is an exciting possibility 鈥� not just for visually impaired parents.

鈥淔or families, instead of having to show them a picture of an ultrasound, how cool it would be for them to get their hands on it, what the baby is like now,鈥� she told the Post. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a really cool way to meet that little being inside of you before you actually meet that little being.鈥�