How to Preserve Your Baby Scan Photos | Bristol Newborn Photographer

5 Tips for Looking After Your Baby Scan Photographs

Hello Mama!

I'm Debbie, a Bristol family photographer and one of the things I love to see during in-home maternity and newborn photoshoots is your precious baby scan photos. I find them everywhere! Pinned to the fridge door, framed in the front room or lovingly placed by your bedside. These magical photos are a priceless reminder of the time you first caught a glimpse of your beautiful baby, a purely precious moment in your motherhood journey captured forever.

Your ultrasound photos are more than just pictures - they are a first look at what your new baby will look like and an incredible reminder that you are now a mama, growing and nurturing a beautiful new life.

But did you know scan photos deteriorate over time? I certainly didn't until the 12 week scan photos that I had lovingly displayed in my bedroom sadly began to fade. I still feel so sad about it! So how can you ensure these delicate keepsake images last a lifetime? Here are my top 5 tips for preserving your baby scan photos.

1. Digitise Your Scans

First and foremost, make high resolution digital copies of your baby scan photos. Use a scanner or take high-quality photos of your scan photos with your smartphone. This way, you have a backup in case the originals fade or get damaged. Store these digital copies in multiple places: your computer, an external hard drive, and cloud storage. This ensures that you always have access to your irreplaceable pregnancy memories, no matter what happens to the physical copies.

2. Create a Keepsake PhotoBook

Turning your baby scan photos into a keepsake book is a wonderful way to preserve them. You can use an online service such as Bobs Books to create a custom photobook. Add captions, dates, and little notes about your pregnancy journey to make it even more meaningful. As a Bristol maternity and newborn photographer, I love seeing how creative my clients get with their keepsake books!

The wonderful thing about a photobook is it can be passed down through the generations. Imagine your grandchildren seeing photos of their mum or dad (your adorable little dot) growing inside of you. Priceless!

3. Store Your Originals in a Safe Place

Thermal paper is sensitive to heat, light and humidity and so for the original scan photos, proper storage is so important. Keep them in acid-free photo sleeves or albums to prevent them from yellowing or deteriorating over time. Store these albums in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight, avoiding cellars or attics where temperature and humidity can fluctuate as this can cause damage to your baby scan photos.

4. PRINT, Frame and Display

If you want to display your baby scan photos, consider framing them. Choose a high-quality frame with UV-protective glass to shield the photos from sunlight and dust. Display them in a spot where they won't be exposed to excessive light or humidity. Better still print your digital copies professionally onto archival paper and display those instead of the originals.

Whatever you do, do not laminate your ultrasound photos. The heat from the laminator will cause your thermal photos permanent damage.

5. Share and Backup(in case You didn't get the hint first time!)

Share your baby scan photos with family and friends and keep everyone updated and involved in your pregnancy journey. Plus, sharing your images provides another layer of backup in case anything happens to the physical copies or digital files on your personal devices. But, please back up your scan photos to at least three places to avoid the worst case scenario.

Preserving your baby scan photos is about safeguarding those cherished first memories of your darling little one before they joined you earthside. If there's one thing you can do today, it's digitising your scan photos and creating backups so you never have to feel like I do about losing some of THE most precious photos in your world.

Have you preserved your baby scan photos in a unique way? As a dedicated Bristol maternity and newborn photographer, I’m here to help you capture and preserve every beautiful moment of your motherhood journey. Head over to Instagram to share your tips with our mama community!

With love, Debbie x