natural unmedicated water birth with midwives, doula and birth photographer
One of the reasons (of which there are many) that I started doing birth photography 9 years ago was that I saw so many husbands taking photos during labor and birth; I saw a desire for the families to have photos of this experience but I wanted them to be able to BE PRESENT in the experience instead of having to think about taking pictures.
Birth is a hugely transformative experience for both men and women and I wanted to remove the distraction of taking photos so they could reengage in the experience of becoming parents together.
I get many photographer families hiring me to photograph their births (like this particular family), so it is not unusual for the dad to take a picture here or there. However, I’ve noticed that he does not feel obligated to capture the experience for his wife. He feels free to participate in the experience, because he trusts that I will document it beautifully.
And thank goodness that they hired me, an outside perspective, to document the BOTH of them IN the experience. To capture those moments where he puts his comforting hands on her laboring body. Those small touches that she doesn’t even realize he is doing in the moment but is able to see his loving connection because of the photos afterwards.
They become closer and more connected as a team, as a partnership, as a family, because I am there to make space for them to do this during labor and because I give them the pictures of their love and connection as a way for them to bond through the processing of the experience afterwards.
Did you find that having a birth photographer allowed you to feel more connected to your partner?
hypnobabies classes to have a calm and pain free labor during birth
