There is nothing more magical than photographing a birth.  Those intimate moments just before your little one enters this world are so intense and so full of absolute raw emotion. It’s impossible to take it all in though, you have to totally lose yourself in the moment and let yourself go to the wave of contractions.  You have to concentrate on your breathing, meditation and the inevitable pushing.

But… to have photos of it all afterwards, captured in an unobtrusive & natural way is just so so special and something I was honoured to have been able to do for my friend Chirssi and her husband Bradley just over a year ago.  Chrissi chose to have a home birth with a Doula present and of course her husband and then me with my camera!  I was nervous at first as I didn’t want to get in the way but they have since assured me it was actually a pleasure having me there and it was such an amazing experience for me too.  For me, it was the moment Bradley took Chrissi’s hands during the final few contractions and channelled all his energy into helping her push that was just incredible…

Birth is a true miracle and I must admit to shedding a few tears myself as Mum & Dad met their beautiful baby girl for the first time.

I had 3 caesarean sections which I like to refer to as c-births.  My babies were well and truly stuck, back to back, almost 13 lb and for one reason or another, although I knew what I needed to do, my babies and the midwives and doctors I was surrounded by had other ideas.  This does not mean to say they weren’t miracles too as they certainly were to us.  Witnessing Chrissi’s natural home birth helped heal some of the wounds I still carried about not being able to deliver my 3 naturally though.  I am honestly so grateful to have had this experience and been present for this amazing moment in their lives.

I would love to capture more births so if you like what you see and would like me present during the last stages of labour to capture your little one’s big day (or night – they pick the time, not us!) then please get in touch to discuss prices and plans.

For now I will leave you with these beautiful images and a little quote I found about birth by Virginia Di Orio… and this can refer to c-births too if you knew that’s how it had to be for your baby to be delivered safely into this world.  Much love to all mum’s and their birth stories… x

Just as a woman’s heart knows how and when to pump

her lungs to inhale

and her hand to pull back from fire

So she KNOWS when and how to give birth…