The new type of photo pregnant women are taking of themselves.

Completely at ease.

Photographer and artist Jana Romanova wanted to show the world what parents look like before they give birth: asleep, lying side by side in various stages of undress, and utterly natural.

In her native land of Russia, Jana asked young Russian couples living in Saint Petersburg and Moscow if they would be willing to take part in the project, which she named Waiting.

Jana then slept in their house and took photos of the couples at daybreak, hovering over their beds on a ladder.

“I know the photographs and the format so well. Young couples, pregnant bellies, sometimes other kids, often pets, a duvet in disarray, and always something unique to them and their living space,” she said.

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Obviously a lot of trust (and balancing) was required to fulfil the promise of the project — but after five years of hard work, Waiting has become a collection of 40 intimate photographs you need to see.

Writing on her website: Jana said “the project investigates not only their attitude to each other during the period of expecting a baby, but also the way young families live in big cities of modern Russia, 20 years after the fall of the Soviet Union, the country that will be known to their children only from history books.”

Jana is currently raising money to fund a book of Waiting. You can preorder it here.

Click through Jana’s images – The Waiting Project.

Is this how calm and content you looked before giving birth?