LONDON — A business in Tarleton, Lancashire, is offering a rather unusual bonding experience for parents-to-be: Those visiting Baby Boo Scan can get a 3D-printed rendering of their unborn child to frame or hang on a walls for all to see.

Each eight-inch cast of the face is sculpted using ultrasound data and converted into a 360-degree format before it is 3D printed. It looks like a mask, but it's more concave than the solid block you see in the photo above.

Before and after: a 3D printout made using ultrasound data (left) bears a striking resemblance to the baby post-birth. Image: Baby Boo Scan

"People do think it's a little odd, but it's similar to creating casts of baby's feet or hands," Baby Boo owner Katie Kermode told The Mirror. "It's actually a really lovely keepsake to cherish."

Baby Boo's service is designed to offer a more personal service than that offered by the National Health Service, which checks up that all is going as planned during a pregnancy.

Baby Boo's ultrasound service is strictly for bonding purposes; technicians there cannot make medical diagnoses.

However, 3D printouts of unborn children are also being used to help blind women visualize their unborn babies.