You might think that having professional photos taken in the delivery suite is the last thing you’d want, but these beautiful photos might make you reconsider.
When you’re a professional birth photographer, you get used to the phone ringing in the middle of the night. Having professional photos of your child’s first moments is the new birthing trend that is becoming so popular, pregnant women are including the photographer’s phone numbers on their birthing plans.
Professional birth photographers are are on the rise, and demand for their services has increased by 112 percent in the past year. But what pregnant woman in their right mind would want a photographer in the delivery room?
An incredible one-fifth of women polled in this UK study say they’d love to hire or already have hired a professional photographer to document their baby’s birth, and it’s now become so popular, business is rivaling wedding photographers. Unfortunately there aren’t enough birth photographers to go around, so expectant mums are having to book them just weeks after having their pregnancies confirmed.
Janine Lewis, 29, from the UK, hired a photographer to document the birth of her twins in 2004. “I can only remember certain things about my labour with my firstborn son so I was keen to capture the twins’ arrival to cherish the memory of bringing my babies into the world,” she told the Daily Mail. “I hadn’t heard of birth photography until halfway through my pregnancy with Annie and Sam and though I was unsure at first, I’m so pleased we did it as we now have beautiful photos of a really precious moment that we’ll keep forever.”
Birth photographers don’t come cheap though. They can cost anything from $500 to $1000. But the photos truly are priceless.
Becky Williams is a professional birth photographer and she says the shots she focuses on are the intimate moments between the expectant mum and her partner and other children. Also capturing the baby’s first breath or the first skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby produce the most stunning photos that families treasure forever.
Click through these photos and tell us what you think. Are professional birth photos a good idea or the last thing you’d want when giving birth?
Images courtesy of Jade Langton-Evans.
