Why You Should Hire a Birth Photographer

When some people hear about birth photography they immediately think of a woman "spread eagle," screaming and a baby crowning. Well, yeah, sometimes birth look likes that. And you know what? That's ok. That's her story and her baby's story and that's something she will always remember. And when she looks back at those images she will think "wow I was a bad ass!!" However, a birth story is more than that. Birth photography goes deeper than that.

Birth photographer aims to document the journey of a couple and the meeting of their new baby. It's a physical connection to the emotions and struggles. It's a way to freeze time when you are in a vortex of delivery, and the sounds, smells and people around you become distant and it's just you bringing life into the world. You won't remember a lot of it, and you certainly won't care when someone is taking pictures because chances are, you probably won't realize they're there. This isn't your typical photo shoot, and it's not a photo shoot at all actually. It's a documentary. It's absolutely unpredictable, and exciting and you will want photos to share with your loved ones and your little one when they're older.

If you were getting married, you would hire a photographer for around $2000-5000+ and want to remember all the little moments and feelings you had that day. So why not do it for a birth? This is one of the biggest days of your life, if not the biggest day of your life! And in some cases, birth photography is cheaper than wedding photography!!

If you have other children in the family, but don't want them in the birth room, or they're too little to understand, sharing photos of the birth of their sibling can be extremely special for them, and a great way for them to feel included and to bond with their sibling. Our society does a "great job" of shaming women and closing the door on what's absolutely normal and natural for children to be exposed to like nursing and birthing babies. Including children on what a birth looks like and how beautiful it is will set them up for more empathy and understanding of our/their bodies later on in life. It allows them the opportunity to understand how magical birth is when they see it! When we close their eyes and tell them to look away when a woman is birthing or nursing, it sets them up to be fearful of those things.

On the other hand, sometimes people just don't want to see those things, and blood makes them pass out. I get it. I get a little queasy with some things myself. But the more we are exposed, the less those things become "scary and gross." Most of the time, the more graphic and bloody images are converted to black and white for this reason and for a more ideal and less distracting image.

A birth photographer will be a fly on the wall, and will not be invasive. The only time it becomes more of a "family shoot" is the moments after you deliver or a do Fresh 48 session and even then it will be more of a documentary/candid style. You don't need to worry about your partner or someone else "getting the shot". You can focus on the safe delivery of your little one and holding your partner's hand. When I had my daughter, my doula ended up taking some grainy photos on my iphone. While I'm grateful to have those photos, I really had wished that my doula was able to focus on helping me and my partner rather than worrying about taking photos. But I really wanted the photos!! Having a birth photographer means you have a professional taking professional quality photos, and some have back ups to fill in when they can't make it to a birth. What a great investment!!

Speaking of investment, if the money is a big thing for you to wrap your head around, a lot of times birth photographers will work with you on a payment plan. Remember too, that they are on-call for 4 weeks! What does that mean? On-call means they are sacrificing a lot! Figuring out day care for their own children, not traveling out of town, not consuming alcohol, having to turn down other work to be available, and being available to drop everything and be at your birth 24/7! Even in the middle of the night! So when you look at it that way, you can see that this is an investment for them as well.

Do yourself and your partner a favor and book the birth photographer. It's going to be worth it! Promise!

all photos by hadas images.