Why Birth Photography? | An Inside Look

I don’t remember why I decided I needed a birth photographer for my first baby’s birth, but I know within a few weeks of finding out we were pregnant, I was researching options for birth photographers in Winnipeg. There weren't very many at the time, but I was determined. I knew I wanted those memories even though I couldn’t really pinpoint why.

It was afterwards that I realized how important they would be to me. While my daughter’s birth went well, it fell short of what I had expected. I became overwhelmed and looking back on it later, I realized many details were fuzzy. I wanted to remember these moments. I wanted to know everything about the day I met her. And somehow I couldn’t recall the timeline or even certain things that had happened.

Getting back my photos from my birth photographer was like someone lifted a boulder off my heart. I looked through the images and I pieced it together. I saw evidence of peaceful and important moments that I had forgotten. Strength I gathered from my doula and my husband. The caring nurses who tried so hard to stick to my birth plan. The love in the room. And I remembered.

I sat down with photos in hand and I wrote. I wrote and wrote, and 13 pages later, my heart felt unburdened. Her story made sense to me now. It was complete. I don’t think I ever would have gotten there without those photos. There would have always been a piece of me that wondered what else I’d forgotten about her important day. The day I became a mama.

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She’s almost eight years old now and we still look at her entire birth story together at least once a year. She loves seeing her dad and I work together during her labor, and seeing herself in my belly for the last time. And we both get teary eyed at her first early moments. I’m glad I have them for me, but for her too. They’re a special link to a very important part of her own past!

While after her birth I knew that I would want birth photography for all of my future babies, it still didn’t occur to me to offer birth photography as a service. I’d been a hobby photographer for several years already, and a birth doula for almost as long, but somehow I never considered that *I* might be able to be a birth photographer and give those memories to someone else.

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Not the birth photos I had planned, but so thankful for these memories!

I gave birth to my second baby in 2014, and he was born too quickly for our chosen photographer to get there. While I was thrilled at the quick birth in compared to what seemed like a long first experience, I was devastated not to get photos this time! We had a couple quick shots that my sister in law grabbed without changing the settings on our camera, and that was it!

It was after this experience and shooting a lot in his newborn days that I started practicing photography more and considering whether I might actually be able to jump into this dream job of being a birth photographer. I started researching and practicing, turning the idea over in my head. In 2016 I made the jump to offer birth photography for the first time. I documented my first birth and I was absolutely in love! It felt right to be able to complete this circle for my clients!

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I’ve since had the opportunity to photograph many more birth experiences, and I fall a little bit more in love with each one. I come home and look through the photos and my heart just swells at the memories that will be saved forever- the stories that can be shared with those sweet babes in full.

It sounds so cliche to say birth photography is my calling, but I truly feel I was set on this path long before I knew it myself! In visitng my birth photos, I see my own strength, and working through this HARD experience. I see my husbands constant love and support, no matter how tired he was or how needy I got. I see how hard my nurses worked to keep me comfortable and get on my level with the birth I wanted. These pictures were healing.

Having seen firsthand how important these memories are, it really feels like a gift to be able to give this same experience to other families.

Not quite sure about having your birth documented? Send me a message today and lets chat!

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