Winnipeg Birth Photography and Backups 2022
I wanted to sit down today and address a bit of an elephant in the room- Having a backup as a birth photographer. I think it is SO important for birth professionals to work with backups to provide seamless, intuitive, continual care. Which is why it hurts my soul a tiny bit to have to make this announcement!
Entering someone’s birth space is an incredible honour and responsibility and one that I do not take lightly. The team that you surround yourself with on this day will affect not only how your birth unfolds in those moments, but the lasting memories that you will carry with you.
With Embrace, I pride myself on providing a premium and consistent service to my clients not only in the physical captures and memories that I provide to you, but also in the effect that my presence will have during these sacred moments. Birth Photography is so different than any other type of photography and requires not only a different skill set, but also a unique personality and flexible lifestyle. Clients choosing me to attend their births have done so after carefully considering my portfolio, my experience, my personality and our connection. It is extremely important to me that those things are honoured on their birth day.
One of the unfortunate results of Covid has been the retirement of the dedicated and experienced birth photographers that I have previously trusted to provide backup services to my clients. This loss hits hard, and I want all my clients to know that I have worked so hard to find alternative backups (I’ve even resulted to begging some of our local photographers! haha) but in the end have made the decision to move forward without a dedicated backup photographer. This allows me to continue providing services to my clients whom otherwise would not be able to capture these important memories forever.
As I move forward to working without a regular backup, I want to provide the following assurances to all my clients.
In 14 years of attending births as either a doula or a photographer, I have never missed a birth due to scheduling, illness, missed calls or other avoidable circumstances. I have never had to send a backup to one of my own clients.
Over these 14 years, I have only missed the birth of one babe (where I was the backup photographer)- due to a speedy birth and a call that came once mama was already pushing. I arrived at the place of birth just four minutes after babe did and stayed for the day to capture all those gorgeous fresh moments.
Doula clients of Embrace- rest assured that backup doulas are still secured for all on call clients. We are lucky to still have an amazing group of local Winnipeg doulas that I can lean on and trust to take excellent care of my clients. (I’m still grateful not to have ever had to call one though!)
As you can imagine, with over a decade of experience, I have dedicated systems in place to ensure that I can quickly attend your birth once you are ready for me. I’ve worked hard over the years to encourage communication with clients so that lots of notice is given for births, and arranged my life in a way that I can be flexible to join my clients when they need. Care is taken in my day to day life to ensure that my clients are my top priority and are never let down.
As a professional birth worker, My phone is always charged, volume on loud and at hand. A secondary phone number is provided to reach me at. I ensure that if I go places, I have an exit strategy to leave quickly and efficiently. On more than one occasion I’ve gone to events with my camera bag in hand, just in case. Living on call means that I’m never far from home, or far from you. It’s a sacrifice that I make willingly in order to be able to do this amazing job, but I know it’s definitely not something that works for everyone.
It is important to me that my clients feel secure in hiring me, and understand all that has been done to prioritize the best possible birth experience for you. Please know that if you have any questions, I am more than happy to set up a time to chat to ease your worries. Shoot me a message today and we can talk!