Only days after the outrageous article about a birth photographer refusing to enter the operating room (OR) went viral, here I was at 6am, begging doctors and nurses to allow me to go in, not only as a birth photographer but also as an extra support person.
Standing there and being told that I was not going to be allowed to enter the OR to take photos of the birth of this baby, and support this mum to be, made my heart ache.
I was gutted, to say the least.
I stood in the room, in front of the parents trying so hard to fight the tears from rolling down my face, (I swear I was blinking like an indicator) biting my tongue so as not to make the situation worse.
Who wrote this policy and what are they thinking to dictate a women’s right to professional photographs of the most important day of her life?
As a three-time caesarean mother myself, I know first-hand how important these images are and the immense healing power they serve in the postpartum period.
Having had an emergency caesarean due to a life-threatening condition at 32 weeks with my first pregnancy, I know all to well what it is like to have little to no recollection of the birth of your baby. I wish SO much almost every day that we had just one image from her birth, just something to trigger a memory or anything that recorded that day.
During a natural vaginal delivery, we know that the neocortex part of the brain switches off, allowing the body to enter that primal state of purely focusing on bringing the baby down and out. Photographs serve as the perfect pieces to the overall story of a women’s birth experience.
It allows her to process her entire birth without gaps in her memory. It allows her to heal if there was birth trauma. It allows her to be empowered, inspired and gives her the opportunity to share her birth story to educate future generations. It allows us to help normalise birth; all types of birth.