Birth is unpredictable.
It’s impossible to say how any one birth is going to go or what any one person’s experience of birth will be like. What we can do is prepare for potential outcomes and arm ourselves with the wisdom of those who have gone before us.
As a birth photographer, it’s my job to try and account for these possible outcomes even though every eventuality cannot be prepared for.
In the case of E.B., we had started in the Bluebell Birth Centre in Warwickshire and later transferred to the labour ward after a long and hard labour.
Hours of active labour left EB’s energy levels depleted. Talks of going into theatre floated around and those talks turned into papers being signed and changing into hospital gowns.
In the UK, only one person is permitted to accompany the birthing person into theatre. This is important because if you’ve hired a doula or a photographer, they cannot accompany you in addition to your partner.
Unfortunately, because EB had to go to theatre, I could not accompany her to document her birth experience.
While she was being prepared for theatre, I prepared her partner for taking pictures. He would document what occurred in theatre and I would later edit and fine tune those images.
While EB did not have the birth she was hoping for, the ultimate outcome of both a healthy baby and healthy mother made for a positive birth experience according to EB.
There are lots of big decisions to make when you are planning everything for your baby and one of the best decisions I made was inviting Elle as our birth photographer. I’m speechless. She captured so many beautiful photos and also supported me all the way through the birth. I can never thank her enough for everything. I would highly recommend her as a birth photographer.
E.B.
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