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Several Maryland entrepreneurs open shops to provide baby

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Feb 10, 2006 by Kathleen Johnston Jarboe

Jamie Fangman hoped to see her unborn son playing with his toes. Her doctors had seen it during her regular ultrasounds. But she could never make out the actions on the blurry, black and white images. There were other things she wanted to find out, too. So she booked an appointment at a special office that gave parents-to-be a photo-like glimpse of their future newborn.I want to see what he looks like.

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I want to see if he has chubby cheeks, the first-time Landsdown mother said while waiting for customers at the hair salon where she works. While medical groups have expressed concern about the industry, nine months of waiting can be too long for some to see their child. That urge combined with advances in technology and a pleasant working environment has pushed several Maryland entrepreneurs to open shops to provide the service in the last year.Little Bo Peep Inc. in Owings Mills opened in January to perform the ultrasounds that can show parents life-like pictures and video of their fetus moving in the mother's belly. Bel Air-based Precious Previews Ultrasound began business in September. Little Sprout Imaging of Towson, which first welcomed clients in October 2004, plans to start a second Columbia location this spring.Baby Insight LLC was the first in the state to offer the service. When it opened in the spring of 2003, the location marked Maryland as second state in the country to offer videos as well as pictures, according to owner Matt Evans.The spread has been more rapid in California, where according to an Internet directory there were 38 locations to get the service.People are fascinated with their babies and want to meet them before they're born, said Devorah Baron, who owns Little Bo Peep.The technology to make 3-D sonograms has been around since the 1980s. But Evans said only in the past few years did the machines become good enough to give the clear images parents love.The devices use typical ultrasound technology, bouncing sound waves off parts of the body to create an image of the baby. But the 3-D machines compile the images. Instead of viewing a mix of bones covered by a shadow of flesh, parents see a sculpture-like portrait of their little one. The 4-D machines allow parents to view not only pictures but also to watch their kids move.Typical packages start around $200, depending on whether customers want to take home pictures, videos or both.The new machines can cost more than $100,000. But owners say they are drawn to the business. Some are awed by the technology. Evans said he knew it was something he would have wanted to see with his first three children. Others talk about the joy in sharing the experience with customers who often break into happy tears.Once they come in, they're mush once they see those babies, said Kellie Harrison, who owns Precious Previews.Some customers are better than others at hiding that pile of emotions.The really neat thing is we found out he had six fingers and toes, George Coleman joked after he exited the dim room plastered with images of his first child. The Huntingtown resident held a picture showing his boy's face with an eye open. Half the face was covered by the placenta.He and his wife Angela had hoped to see the baby moving more. The fetus opened his mouth but slept through most of the screening with his face blocked from full view. My baby is stubborn, Angela said.Coleman quickly relented to a second three- hour round trip to the Little Bo Peep office when the owner offered to let him and his wife return a second time for free, in hopes that the baby would be more cooperative.He could tell his wife wanted to, he claimed.Tom & KatieThe curiosity that drew the Colemans to the Owings Mills office is hard to resist for many parents. Leave it to celebrities to take that interest one step further. In October, Tom Cruise told Barbara Walters he had bought an ultrasound machine to perform screenings of his unborn child himself.The remark drew quick rebukes from the medical community, which has repeatedly voiced concerns over what it calls entertainment ultrasounds.There are no clear links between ultrasounds and birth defects. But the most recent studies of the machines and their affects on fetuses are more than a decade old. Since then, the energy levels used in the scan have increased, and sonographers worry old studies might be outdated. They only recommend ultrasounds when there are medical benefits to be gained.Our pictures are better than ever. But the energy levels we are using to get them are eight times higher than when the last safety studies were done, said Jean Lea Spitz, president of Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography. As we continue to increase the energy level, we very well may start to see effects and we don't know where that level is - therefore it is a theoretical risk to use it unnecessarily, she continued.Worse, Spitz worries others might follow Cruise's purchase. She said she's had people call, asking where they can buy the equipment for home use - an even riskier endeavor because experts guess untrained home users would employ the devices even more often. She's also concerned some might rent the machines or buy them and pass them on. In 2002, the Food and Drug Administration warned against using ultrasounds for keepsake videos. A 2004 article in the regulatory body's consumer magazine said the agency could move against recreational ultrasound operators for promoting a device for activities beyond its approved use or for using a prescription device without a prescription.For such reasons, many 3-D offices request a customer receive prenatal care or have a doctor's approval prior to a visit. Many centers also limit how many times parents can visit. Some offices only use sonographers certified by the American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers. Technicians use the abbreviation RDMS to signify the credential. The title means the sonographer has passed courses and exams to earn the designation as opposed to other technicians who say they are certified but only have limited training through a machine's manufacturer.Martha E. Morgan of Little Sprout entered the business after she quit a 15-year career in sales. She found the change of pace refreshing. Her center only uses RDMS registered sonographers.If you looked across the country, you would find that 99 percent of the centers are responsible. They are working only with registered sonographers, and they are not situated next to Starbucks, Morgan said.Baron of Little Bo Peep holds an RDMS certification. She has performed ultrasounds for doctors' offices and hospitals for three and a half years. She shares her current office with an obstetrician who specializes in high-risk births and does screenings for him one day a week.But she disliked the rushed feeling she had in previous settings.I feel this is for the mother and the baby, and this gives [them] more time, Baron said of the bonding experience. A lot of sonographers have the dream to do this.Fangman, for one, valued the time seeing her baby boy. Her husband, parents, siblings and godparents attended. They saw the fetus play with his toes and move his hand toward his face.He kept yawning and sticking out his tongue, she said. It was well worth it.

Several Maryland entrepreneurs open shops to provide baby

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Feb 10, 2006 by Kathleen Johnston Jarboe

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