New business offers 3-D pictures of unborn babies
WEST BLOOMFIELD — When Mary Prebish and
her husband, Ken, saw the first 3-D images of their unborn son, the
moment was indescribable.
“It was amazing,” said Prebish. “You don’t
know who he is, but you just love him already.”
The technology to view 3-D images of
unborn babies is not offered many places, but a new business in West
Bloomfield is offering it to expectant parents in southeast Michigan
and beyond.
“It was amazing,” said Prebish. “You don’t
know who he is,
but you just love him already.”
On March 15, business owners Sy Freilich
and Barry Notarius opened the doors to Oh Baby!, which offers high
quality, 3-D images of unborn children so their parents can get a
sneak peak at their future bundle of joy.
“It’s such a happy business we’re in,”
said Notarius, who also owns a company that sells wholesale computer
hardware and software. He and business partner Freilich, who owns a
water testing company, came across the luxury idea on the Internet.
After some research and travel to check
out similar places around the country, the duo decided to open their
own facility in West Bloomfield.
“We thought we could do it even better,”
said Notarius. “Being business men, we were thinking of an
office-type building with fluorescent lights. But we hired an
interior decorator who helped us turn it into a pleasant place to
be. We wanted it to be very inviting, so we spent a lot of attention
to detail.”
Guests are greeted by the receptionist in
a lobby complete with firm couches designed especially for pregnant
women, a juice bar and a play area for guests’ other children.
Two private sonogram rooms feature a
direct access restroom for women as they prepare to see their babies
in detail for the first time. Currently, only one sonogram room is
set up for use, since it costs $85,000 to outfit a room with
high-tech ultrasound equipment. Notarius and Freilich hired four
registered diagnostic medical sonographers to perform the
ultrasounds.
Although the sonographers are highly
trained and each work at hospitals in the area, they do not dispense
medical advice. Oh Baby! is a business that provides pre-birth
images purely for fun.
“We begin scanning in 2-D, then once we
get the baby in an optimal position, we shift to 3-D,” said Marni
Whitton, one of the sonographers who also works at Providence
Hospital in Southfield. Whitton said Oh Baby! recommends women wait
until they’re at least 26 weeks into the pregnancy to view the 3-D
images.
Parents can purchase a photography package
anywhere from $179 to $400, which can include multiple images,
prints and a CD-ROM of their baby’s 3-D images.
“We spent the rest of the day looking [at
the pictures], thinking ‘Which side of the family does he look
like?’” said Prebish, who is due on May 31. “It totally makes the
experience real; it really connects you.”
Notarius makes no bones about why he and
Freilich chose West Bloomfield to launch their business venture:
“It’s an affluent area that has disposable income.”
“Plus, it’s centrally located [in
southeast Michigan],” said Freilich.
Apparently the word is spreading across
the state – Oh Baby! has had customers from Ann Arbor and as far
away as Ludington in just its first month.
After the images are edited to clear other
objects from the baby’s face, parents can walk out with the pictures
and CD within about 30 minutes after the ultrasound.
Oh Baby! is located at 6708 Orchard Lake
Road in the West Bloomfield Plaza. For more information, call (248)
855-1655 or visit www.myfirstpicture.us.