For mums-to-be who can't wait: 3D ultrasounds

New technology will let expectant mothers print 3D models of their unborn children.

Russian news outlets reported the Embryo 3D service allows medical officials to build the startlingly lifelike models from ultrasound scans.

Video shot in the Russian city of Ufa showed a pregnant woman undergoing a full ultrasound, the scans of which were used by a 3D printer to create a full physical rendering.

Ivan Gridin, the head of Embryo 3D, said the idea had come about when a friend was worried about the health of her unborn child.

"I was fond of new technologies at that time, and 3D-printing," he said.

"Earlier we printed only from plastic, but now we are able to make plaster models and cover them with precious metals."

3D technology has previously been used to create virtual models of foetuses, to analyse health, growth and development.