If you’ve ever followed a dream, you know that it can take you to some unlikely places. When I arrived at Bridget and Jonathan’s house to photograph her home birth at 4:30 in the morning last Thursday, he said, “How many births have you photographed?” The answer? Absolutely zero. But if you have an adventurous spirit, these things are impossible to turn down.
One of the remarkable things about home birth is that you can have the flexibility to do things that are disallowed in hospitals – such as having siblings present and being in the water. Bridget took full advantage of that – her parents, her mother-in-law, Jon, and their two children were all there as well as myself and two midwives. It was a birth party.
Jon was a faithful labor attendant – only leaving Bridget to help care for the kids.
In this image he was actually sleeping. It’s easy to overlook dads in the birth experience, but they go through a lot too.
Our midwives refer to the “birth cave.” A strange thing happens in birth where you experience less pain the more you can focus inwardly. This is why some women find people in the room to be distracting, which creates more physical pain. You can often tell how far along a woman is in her labor by how internally focused she is.
As time went on, as you would expect there was less smiling and talking, and more focus and quiet.
Brand new baby feet.
As baby T cried, Bridget said, “It’s okay, you have a whole family to love you.”
The first time T was held by his dad.
R was a big fan of the birth tub hose.
Getting acquainted with the family.
If you’d like to learn more about birth photography, check out 10 Reasons to Hire a Birth Photographer.
