Bringing a new life into the world is one of the most incredible days of your family’s story. It’s emotional, powerful, and beautifully unpredictable. If you’re considering hiring a birth photographer, you may be wondering exactly what to expect.
Whether you’re planning a home birth, birth center delivery, or hospital birth, here’s a peek behind the scenes.
Before Labor Begins
Once you’ve booked your birth session, we’ll stay in touch throughout your pregnancy. Around 37 weeks, I’ll officially go on call for you, meaning I’ll keep my schedule flexible and my phone close by, and wont be taking any long distance trips out of the area.
As labor gets closer, I’ll ask you to send me a quick text when you think labor has started. Even if you believe it may still be early. This doesn’t mean I’m heading your way yet; it simply helps me begin preparing. Double checking camera batteries, notifying my childcare, filling the gas tank.
We’ll stay in communication as labor progresses, and together with your birth team, we’ll determine the best time for me to leave.
When I Arrive
Birth photography is incredibly documentary in nature.
Rather than directing or posing anyone, I quietly blend into the room and capture your story as it naturally unfolds. My goal is for you to be fully present with your family while I preserve the moments you may not even realize are happening.
Some of the moments I often capture include:
- Labor support from your partner, doula, or family
- Quiet moments between contractions
- The little details of your birth space
- Your strength through labor
- Your baby’s first moments earthside
- First cries and first breaths
- Cutting the cord (if desired)
- Skin-to-skin snuggles
- First feeding
- Siblings and family meeting baby
Every birth is different, which is part of what makes each gallery so meaningful.
Will You Photograph Everything?
This is one of the most common questions I receive.
The answer is: only what you’re comfortable with.
Some parents want every part of their birth documented, including the moment their baby is born. Others prefer more modest angles that focus on faces, emotions, and the connection between family members.
Before your birth, we’ll discuss your comfort level so I know exactly how you’d like your story told. At booking, I send every client a questionnaire where you will tell me exactly what you do (and don't) want captured.
What If My Birth Doesn’t Go According to Plan?
Birth rarely follows a script.
Whether your labor is fast or long, whether you transfer from a home birth to the hospital, whether you have an unplanned induction or last minute decision to receive the epidural, or whether your plans change unexpectedly, my role remains the same: to document your story with compassion and respect.
Sometimes the most beautiful photographs come from the moments no one planned.
Will You Be In The Way?
Not at all.
One of the greatest compliments I receive is hearing clients say they forgot I was even there.
I work quietly alongside your care team, staying aware of the room and moving only when appropriate. Your providers, nurses, midwives, and doulas always come first.
Why Hire A Birth Photographer?
Birth changes you.
While you’ll always remember pieces of the day, so much happens that parents simply don’t get to see.
Your partner’s expression as they first see your baby.
The overwhelming joy on a grandparent’s face.
The tiny fingers wrapped around yours.
The tears.
The strength.
The love.
Those moments deserve to be remembered.
Years from now, these photographs become more than images, they become part of your family’s legacy.
My biggest regret with my own first two births, is not having more photos from one of the biggest days of our lives. I have zero regrets with hiring a photographer for my third and fourth babies!
A Photographer Who’s Been There
Birth isn’t one-size-fits-all, and neither is my heart for documenting it.
I’ve experienced birth from several different perspectives myself: a cesarean birth, where I was first induced and received an epidural, followed by unmedicated home births.
Every one of those experiences shaped me, humbled me, and deepened my appreciation for the incredible strength of mothers.
Because of that, I don’t walk into your birth with expectations or opinions about how your story should unfold. My role isn’t to measure your birth against anyone else’s, it’s to preserve your story with honesty, compassion, and respect.
Whether your birth is at home, in a birth center, or in the hospital… whether it’s medicated, unmedicated, a planned cesarean, or a birth that takes unexpected turns… your story is worthy of being remembered.
Every birth matters. Every mother deserves to feel seen.
I’d Love To Tell Your Story
If you’re expecting and considering birth photography, I’d be honored to walk alongside your family and preserve one of the most meaningful days of your life.
I’d love to answer your questions, learn about your birth plans, and help you decide if birth photography is the right fit for your family.