Following on from my previous article about us having a baby, “Storytelling with Maternity Photos: 9 Months of Anticipation”,  I thought I would share a selection of some very personal images from the birth of our daughter. These birth photography images were taken by me and I am so glad I did.

Why? Well I believe that birth photography is something that should be considered by every expecting couple. It may not be for everyone but if you have been sitting on the fence then my hope is that this article can give you some further insights into the benefits of hiring a professional photographer to document this joyous occasion.

I am guessing that there are not to many male child birth photographers out there and therefore it is very unlikely that I will ever be hired as one, so I took this opportunity as a dad/photographer to document the birth of our daughter.

Child birth photography has made some headlines over the last few years and is now accepted as being a style or genre of photography in its own right. I guess that the birth of your child is thought of as a sacred and private occasion shared between parents and the idea of having some stranger poking a camera at you when you are most vulnerable can be off putting. I can totally understand this.

My Number One Reason Why Birth Photography is so Important

However here are a few things worth considering…

Firstly birth photography doesn’t have to be in your face confronting. A good photographer will document your story and all its important elements: drama, emotions, love, conflict and of course a happy ending, while at the same time being discrete and unobtrusive.

From a personal point of view, when my son Jesse was born over 11 years ago, birth photography wasn’t a considered thing back then. His whole birth is now a blur to me. Of course I can remember a few key details but nowhere near the amount of things that I would like to remember.

Even today, a few short weeks after our daughter was born, the memories are starting to get a bit sketchy. Maybe it’s just me at my old age? Having these images however has given me the ability to remember what took place, the timings, the process, our wonderful midwives and most importantly my feelings at the time.

It took Xuan a few weeks to feel the need to look at the images. At first she didn’t want to be reminded of the pain she had gone through. When she finally did she started to cry. Looking at these images from another perspective gave her a whole new take on what she went through and the things that were happening around her which she was unaware of.

Having allowed me to photograph her labour, Xuan has given us both the opportunity to remember that day for the rest of our lives. Not to mention what a wonderful story to share with our daughter when she is old enough to understand.

….The Details

Just briefly for those who like to know the finer details, Xuan’s labour had to be induced. She was 2 weeks plus 1 day overdue. Induction was initially done by using a cervical ripening balloon catheter followed by administration of synthetic oxytocin. She was in labour for 20 hours and in total the whole process took 32 hours. Xuan lost a lot of blood during delivery but is now fine and utterly enjoying being a new mum. She delivered our daughter at Monash Medical Centre in Clayton. She weighed 3.74kg and measured 52cm.

The final chapter of this story can be read here: Newborn baby photos of Aria.

There you can see the images from our daughter’s newborn photo shoot and I will reveal her name and the saga behind choosing it.

Do you have any thoughts about birth photography? I would love to hear them in the comments below.

If you are considering hiring a birth photographer but not sure where to start, I am more than happy for you to get in contact with me.  I will do my best to give you information about what questions to ask and how to go about finding the right photographer for you.

Take care.

Warren

Reserved crib

When she said “can you warm up the heat pad”, I didn’t think she meant do it right away. Ooops!

Synthetic oxytocin drip to induce labour

Bottom trace shows 5 contractions every 10 minutes as a result of increased dosage of oxytocin drip

Epidural administration

Night time monitoring

They say that baby hands and feet become overly wrinkled with overdue pregnancies.

Wrinkly feet from being over cooked.

Newborn hearing screen in hospital

Jesse and his sister

See images from Aria’s newborn photo shoot here.