A beautician from County Durham has drawn global attention after she turned a customer’s baby scan into a nail design.

Sarah Clarke of Sarenity Hair and Beauty, Stockton-on-Tees, painted Stacey Donaldson’s nail by copying an ultrasound image of her unborn child.

Since posting a picture of the nail to Facebook, the 34-year-old’s unique design has gone viral, being shared tens of thousands of times. “It just went mental,” Sarah told the Press Association. “I’m totally shocked at the reaction.” 

Sarah’s salon now has a host of bookings from next month for “baby scan nails”, including many customers who lost their child during pregnancy. Sarah said she had the idea four months ago when Stacey was in the middle of her pregnancy, telling her she would prepare them for when she went into hospital.

“There was no sentiment around doing it – I just like trying new things,” said Sarah. “I told her it would be popular in hospital because it’s a nice touch, but obviously they’ll probably know about it before she even gets there now.

“I’ve had a lot of requests from people who have lost their babies too, so that’s nice for them to have a memory. I’ve had some wanting to get it done for their wedding, with the one they lost on their ring finger.”

The nails cost £40 for a set, with one of the nails being adorned with the baby scan design. Sarah, who has worked in beauty for seven years, applies an acrylic nail before painting the baby scan image by hand with a fine brush.

“I think other shops are getting requests for it now too,” she added. “It is definitely becoming a trend because I’m getting messages from all over the world, so it’s not going to stop here in Stockton.

“I just had a message from a journalist in Indonesia and the Americans are going crazy.”