Why Hire a Birth Photographer?

We've all heard many reasons about why you should hire a birth photographer; memories fade, dads should be in the picture too, hiring a professional ensures high quality images, poor lighting conditions that a professional knows how to handle, birth photographers know and understand birth, etc, etc.   These are absolutely true - but I want to dig a little deeper into why these moments are more pivotal than you might think on the surface.   I want to talk about what these moments mean, at least to me, and why documenting them might be more important than you originally thought.

6.  What if you had a snapshot of the moment you met your partner and the love of your life?  I remember the instant I met my husband and my heart took a picture.  What if that moment was caught on camera?  I'd treasure it forever!  With a birth photographer, you have the opportunity to capture that moment with your own children, the other loves of your life.  You will always be able to show your child "THE moment" that you met them, and when you instantly fell in love with them.  That is one big reason why you should hire a birth photographer.

5.  I've never loved my husband more than when he supported me through two long labors for our children.  When I think back to the births of my children, more than anything, I think of the emotional connection my husband and I have, and how birth magnified that.  He never left my side, and our doula had to make him take a break for dinner when I was in labor with our first daughter.  The connection was palpable and he couldn't stop smiling at me; the 3 images I have from that day are my most cherished, even though they are terrible quality.

4.  "I wish I had done that!"  Every-single-time that I tell someone what I do, I hear, "Oh, I wish I had birth photos when my kids were born!"  You don't get these moments back.  Period.  I'm constantly being told that moms regret the decision to not book a photographer.   For whatever reason; they felt it was a private affair, they didn't think they looked pretty enough for photos, it just wasn't an option at the time, or it was too expensive, they decide to forgo images and then regret it later.

Personally, I can truly say that I absolutely regret not having a photographer for my first daughter's birth and here's why:  She was born via unexpected cesarean section.  I didn't see her being born, I didn't see her little body covered in vernix, and no-one even held her over the big blue curtain so that I could see her freshly born face.  We hadn't found out the gender of our baby, so it was a big moment when her birth time came, and all I remember is staring up at the ceiling and my husbands voice saying, "It's a girl and she's so beautiful."  I couldn't feel her being born and I didn't see it either, I also didn't see her for 15 minutes after her birth, and when I did, she was cleaned off and wrapped in a blanket.    I wish I had a birth photographer to capture the moment that my eyes couldn't see.  You wont regret doing it, I promise!

3.  You hire a wedding photographer to capture moment's you don't want to forget.  Why wouldn't you hire a birth photographer for those same pivotal life moments?  My husband will flat out say that the birth of his daughters, by far exceeds our wedding day in terms of emotion, love and excitement.  I wholeheartedly agree.  In our society we don't hesitate to spend thousands on a wedding, flowers, cake, and a food, etc., but these are just things, and they go away when the wedding is over.  The flowers wilt, the cake gets eaten, and the dancing stops, but the photos you take on that day live on forever.  Birth is just as important.  You've planned and prepped for 10 long months while carrying this baby in your body.  Sometimes it takes months or even years prior to that, trying to get pregnant.  Then there is so much anticipation about this tiny human growing inside of you; who are they going to look like, what are they going to be like?  And when that huge and amazing moment comes, you want more than just your iphone photos of it!

2.   The price of beauty.  This kind of goes along with #3.  Just as we spend a lot of money on weddings and we also spend on family photos. We pick out new outfits, get our hair done, sometimes makeup, and then we pick epic locations and try to get our kiddos to smile as we pose for photos.  We do this because we aren't afraid to spend money when we think that being beautiful is involved. Now, there is nothing wrong with creating those moments, but what about a beautiful moment that unfolds naturally?  That is what birth is all about, truly beautiful moments created out of emotion.  How do you put a price on a moment you can never recreate?  Isn't the birth of your child worth capturing?  I think so.

1. Women look beautiful when they birth.  This might be slightly contradictory to #2, but it's true.  There is a quality that comes over a woman as they are in labor and giving birth.  I don't know what it is, and I wouldn't have believed it myself if I had not seen it firsthand.  True Story:  When I was in labor with my first child, I hadn't slept for 2-3 days prior and had been having prodromal labor on and off for a week.  I was induced, tired, filled with fluids and I'd gained 50lbs during pregnancy!  My doula, after 12-14 hours of labor said to me, 'Jennifer, look in the mirror, look how beautiful you look.'  I smirked at her, but looked up, and I was shocked at what I saw.  Beauty.  True beauty.  My cheeks were flushed with a perfect pink color, my normally stick straight hair was curly, and I looked beautiful.  I couldn't believe it.

There are my major reasons for why I think everyone should at least consider hiring a birth photographer.  What are the reasons you chose to hire yours?

If you'd like your birth story documented, contact Jennifer today!