Seeing through touch: How a blind pregnant woman experienced the magic of ultrasound
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Priceless. That is the description that captures how a mother feels when they see the ultrasound image of their unborn baby. But that is a privilege only mothers with vision get.
Have you ever imagined how a pregnant woman who is blind would experience this pregnancy milestone?
Enter the tale of the Kenyan pregnant blind woman, her American counterpart and baby scan image.
On December 3, 2024, the Kenyan pregnant blind woman, attended a week-long exhibition dubbed World Unseen at the Kenya National Library in Nairobi. The World Unseen is an online exhibition that enables people with sight loss to better engage with the visual world, while challenging sighted people to see imagery through their lens.
One of the images on display, was that of a foetus at 28 weeks that belonged to an American woman – Karen Trippass- who is visually impaired.
When she arrived at the exhibition in the company of her guide, the Kenyan woman went round touching the elated photographs with intensity and deep in thought.
One image melted her heart. The Kenyan woman was besides herself with emotion when she touched that baby scan image, perhaps it gave her a rough idea of how her unborn baby might look like.
In her 29th week of pregnancy on December 13, 2023 – the American woman – had a 3D ultrasound impression of her baby’s face, obtained during a transabdominal scan and she was able to “meet” her baby.
This prenatal ultra sound scan was captured by Bill Smith, a leading ultrasound practitioner and it was possible for a blind person to feel it thanks to technology that brings to life photographs using 3D elevated prints.
Technology
To enhance the experience of a person with vision impairment, the image was accompanied with audio descriptions, soundscapes and braille writings describing what the photograph was about. Karen has since given birth and the baby named Ruby, is almost a year old.
Her ultrasound was one of the exhibitions since Karen is willing to share her experience with fellow mothers who are pregnant and have never had such a pregnancy milestone.
“It’s funny to think of people feeling Ruby’s picture but I love the idea that quite a lot of visually impaired people will feel what a scan picture is like, because I didn’t know what to expect,” Karen was quoted in the international press early this year.
The extraordinary image
At the World Unseen exhibition, Karen’s extraordinary baby scan image, attracted the most attention and reactions, signifying how important life and conception is to many people.
The exhibition aimed to make persons with blindness and visual impairment to experience photography not with their eyes but through touch, sound and emotion and also create awareness on blindness, which is preventable if detected early.
Other iconic photographs that were showcased were a powerful image of a young Samburu girl gently meeting orphaned elephant Shaba beneath stormy skies captured by photographer Georgina Goodwin and a photo of Sudan the last white rhino elephant and the rangers taken by South African photographer Brent Stirton.
From the interviews, it was clear that touching and feeling these images had a therapeutic effect on all persons, especially those with vision loss.
Elvin Kipchirchir, in his mid-20s, who was born blind, felt an overwhelming sense of peace and emotions when he touched the American woman’s baby scan image.
“So many emotions were running through my mind when I touched that scan. I can’t even describe the feeling,” he said.
Kipchirchir was equally elated when he touched the image of an elephant, probably imagining for the first time how an elephant might look like.
“I have always wanted to know how wild animals look like. Today, I touched the image the big animal and the feeling was magical. It’s incredible that elephants have such big ears,” Kipchirchir said.
If zoos and animal orphanages can adopt such technologies, they would be more inclusive and accessible to persons with vision challenges, since at the moment they are locked out of such life experiences, Kipchirchir noted.
Ivan Omondi, the Advocacy Officer at the Kenya Society for the Blind said the exhibition was a gamechanger for persons with visual loss.
“Blindness is more than braille and white stick. It is also about art, fashion and talent and this is what this exhibition is all about. Inclusivity. I am glad that companies have started factoring in our needs in their inventions,” Omondi said.
To make such experiences even more invigorating, Omondi challenged tech-organizations to develop cameras that have audio features akin to what smart phones have, so that people with vision loss who are passionate for photography can lead fulfilled and productive lives.
“If you were a photographer before you became blind, surely it should be possible for you to continue with your life even after that tragic incident because life must go on. What we need are opportunities not barriers. If I can use my smartphone without any trouble, it would be great if gadgets like cameras can be built with such features to allow persons with visual impairment to operate them with ease,” Omondi said.
The Kenya Society for the Blind Executive Director Samson Waweru said the objective of the event was to enable persons with visual impairment and persons with blindness to experience photography first-hand.
“This is a huge win for persons with visual impairment. We feel independent as we are always third parties when people tell us what they see behind the photo. When I can touch a photo for myself then I can get to connect with it from a first-hand basis,” Waweru said.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), out of the 39 million people living with blindness in the world, 224,000 are Kenyans who are blind and another 750,000 are visually impaired.
Interestingly, according to WHO, 80 per cent of blindness are due to causes that can be cured and prevented.