Hi Hazel,
Make a copy of your scene in case the following steps don't produce what you're after.
With the FX menu set active, click on nParticles->Create Options->Point.
Select your mesh. Open the nParticles->Soft Body settings and make sure they are set to "make soft."
Click Create. Do not click on the mesh at this point.
Open the Edit->Duplicate Special settings, click Edit->Reset Settings, and click Duplicate Special.
Activate the move tool and move the created points to the side.
Open the outliner, and expand your mesh node. Select the second particle node and hit Shift+P.
With that unparented particle node selected, export it as an .ma
This may or may not be what you're after, but it will only take a couple of minutes to try.
Hope this helps!
