Anyone who knows me, knows I’m obsessed with pictures. I’m only an amateur but I’ve been attached to a camera for as long as I can remember. Of course, for special occasions, I leave the picture taking to the professionals, including my wedding, special family events and sometimes vacation pictures. The only thing I haven’t captured on film (or now, digitally) is the birth of my child. To be honest, I haven’t heard about birth photography until recently. That’s why, when I received an opportunity from Andrea of Mommy Gearest to get professional birth pictures done of the birth of my second son, I signed-up immediately. Below is my account of the experience and my thoughts on birth photography. You can read my full review and enter for a chance to win your own birth photography service, valued at $600, from Mommy Gearest here: http://www.mommygearest.com/2013/03/06/at-first-sight-birth-photography-review/
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When I initially signed up for birth photography, I naturally had some questions for the photographer, Amber from At First Sight Photography. When I first met Amber, it was as if I’ve known her for ages. Her smile is contagious and she has such a warm personality. I immediately felt at ease knowing she would be in the labour room with my husband and I. I believe that this component is very important when considering your photographer. You need to find someone that you like, trust and feel at ease with. After all, you will be sharing one of the most intimate times of your life with them.
We went over the details of the day, what I should expect, when I should contact her, and if there was anything specific I wanted her to capture. For me capturing the first interaction between my older son and my newborn son was of great importance to me.
While I was immediately onboard with birth photography, my husband needed some convincing. He wasn’t as comfortable having a “stranger” in the delivery room or having someone taking pictures of his wife’s private parts. In order to ease my husband’s worries, Amber sent me a customer’s testimonial and a link to images taken by other birth photographers that show husbands supporting their wives during labour. Also, seeing her portfolio of work allowed us to see the type of pictures we should expect (i.e. no “Hoo-ha” is shown). This definitely helped us both feel comfortable with what we should expect.
The day of my son’s birth I texted Amber on our drive to the hospital (per her request), at 4 AM. She advised me that she generally likes to come to the hospital when the mother is around 5cm dilated. When I first got checked, I was only 3cm. I got an epidural right away, so my labour slowed down. At 8:30 AM I was only 4cm along. When Amber messaged me around 10:40 AM to see if she should head down (about a 45 minute drive from Bowmanville to Toronto East General Hospital), I told her to hold back because I didn’t think I had progressed much. But when I got checked again an hour later, I was already 10cm. I franticly texted Amber with the news, crossing my fingers that she would make it down in time. Since my son’s head hadn’t dropped down though, I was told to try to hold off on pushing. The moon and the stars aligned (it was a full moon that night), and somehow, Amber managed to make it there within minutes of me starting to push.
When I was in labour, Amber just hung around in the back of the room, behind the Doctors. I honestly didn’t even notice that she was there. Besides, it’s just like having another professional in the room. There’s already several doctors and nurses, having one additional person there didn’t feel odd.
At 1:11 PM, January 27th, 2013, my beautiful second son, Ryan Lev, was born and Amber was there to capture my labour and the precious first few moments of my newborn’s life, and the proud parent’s reactions.
To me, having a professional take pictures of one of the most important events in my life was amazing. For one, it allowed both my husband and I to focus on the labour and to truly enjoy the first few moments with our son. Secondly, it allowed my support person, my husband, to focus on me and only me while I was in labour. Lastly, the photos capture the beauty, yes, I said beauty (even though I didn’t feel beautiful) in labour. There’s so much strength surrounding a birth and it’s hard to capture it in pictures unless it’s done properly. The pictures Amber took clearly showed the commitment between my husband and I to support one another and the immediate love that transpired between us and our newborn son.
Several hours after she left the hospital, Amber sent me three beautiful pictures. I was able to share those pictures with my family and friends, which was a great way to announce our son’s birth.
All of the pictures that Amber took were very tasteful. She also gave us the option to make additional edits to any of the pictures if we weren’t comfortable with what was shown. She also gave us the opportunity to let her know which pictures we didn’t feel comfortable with her posting to FB and to her site and blog. While there were some that we loved to have for our personal memory, we didn’t want them to be shared publicly. Amber made all of the changes we requested without hesitation.
Within three weeks we received our pictures and slideshow on two beautiful cd’s packaged in a beautiful case. The entire experience we had, from the service, down to the product, was done in such a professional manner. Amber has done an exceptional job at capturing one of the most amazing moments of our lives. I’m so glad to have my son’s birth story captured in pictures, which my husband and I consider priceless.
I have to give kudos to Amber for choosing birth photography as a profession. She is on-call 24 hours, 7 days a week and will drive at all hours of the day to make sure she’s there for your labour. That is a tough job, especially as a mother. She also only takes on a limited amount of clients a month to ensure that she’s available for everyone’s birth.
While Amber will do everything in her power to ensure that she makes it to your labour, we all know that things are sometimes unpredictable and out of our control, especially when it comes to a child’s birth. That is why you should always have a back-up plan. Pack your own camera and video camcorder as you may need to take some of your pictures.
So… is birth photography a trend? Perhaps, but there are lots of pros for getting it done, if it’s done RIGHT, by a professional. Personally, I think more and more people are going to do this, especially as we move towards a society where we have the need (and the ability) to document and share everything. The way I see it, you definitely won’t regret doing it, but you might if you don’t. I’m so happy we documented Ryan’s birth story.
What are your thoughts on birth photography? Would you consider doing it? If you did it, what was your experience like?