Diving into Birth Photography
What is birth photography? Thats a great question that I get asked a lot. Until my pregnancy in 2023 I had never heard of this form of photography. Birth Photography became my passion after the birth of my daughter as it was such an emotionally filled day which I now reflect on through the images my photographer took for me.
Birth photography captures all the various moments during the childbirth process. These sessions are called birth stories as this form of photography is aimed at telling the story and emotions of the day.
Some moments that are generally captured for birth stories include but are not limited to: Labor, contractions, support, family members, delivery, first moments, newborn exam and much more
1. Labor and Contractions: Capturing the intensity of labor, including the mother's expressions, breathing techniques, and interactions with support person(s) such as dad or a doula.
2. Support and Comfort: Images focusing on the support team and encouragement that mom receives.
3. Documenting keepsakes such as special bottles, combs, birth tools or gifts.
4.Delivery: Documentation of the actual birth process, including baby arriving earthside, expressions of the parents, and the immediate reactions.
5. First Moments: Photos of baby's first breaths, umbilical cord cutting, breast crawl, initiation of nursing, skin-to-skin with the mom and dad.
6. Emotional Reactions: Capturing the journey of the parent's emotions during the process of birth from the pain of contractions to the love and compassion from dad and the wow I just did that I just birthed a baby moment all documented
7. Details and Environment: Details such us the clocks time when baby was born, what book mom was reading, the song playing before baby arrived earthside, moms first meal after birth and any other element of the day small or big that may be overlooked otherwise.
9. Sibling and Family Interactions: Where siblings are present, I capture their reaction to seeing and meeting their new baby brother or sister for the first time.
Ultimately there are so many reasons to have a birth photographer present during your labor and delivery however not everyone feels completely comfortable with the entire process being documented and that's completely fine. I would then recommend postpartum photography which involves documenting from the Newborn exam until 3 hours after. Check back-in to read about postpartum and fresh 48 sessions.
