Birth Story Photography fell in my lap when a friend took a chance on me to document her birth several years ago. I thought I might attempt it once, most likely be so bad at it, that I would only do it just once. But after the first one, I was captivated and before long, people were humming about that I was shooting births, and I started to get more inquiries from pregnant women wanting just that, their birth story documented. However difficult the scheduling may be, I still wanted to do this. I knew it meant being on call 24/7 leading up to clients due dates. And my time spent photographing labor and delivery could range anywhere from 2 to 30 hours or even more. I could get called at 2AM or on Christmas Morning. But that’s what I love about it, every birth is so completely different that I get to experience a wide variety of unique and special birth stories.

For me, documenting birth stories is most rewarding, and it’s never the same. When families trust me to document precious moments that they only get once in a lifetime, I feel a special kind of loved. There is no other feeling in the world like being given the honor to witness and document the creation of another human being. And respecting that space and knowing how to navigate through intimate moments is so important to me and something I always strive for.

I also document and witness siblings and grandparents as they also play an important role in the moments captured. I feel so good when I am also able to offer assistance to my client during labor if I am able, and my education in the field has grown exponentially. I am then able to share this information with my clients and connect them with reputable resources on what to expect during labor and delivery and after.

It’s amazing to see the diverse situations and methods women choose when having a baby and growing their families. I have had the honor to photograph births at birthing centers, hospitals, and also right in clients homes. I had a client deliver her son in the truck on the way to the hospital once. A little fun fact about me, is that I was actually born at home to a midwife and I always love sharing that special fact about me and more reason that connects me to birth.

Laboring and even delivering at home is so sacred and I feel it is the best place to transition into motherhood and I truly believe it’s starting to make a comeback particularly the more standardized it becomes by revealing the beauty that it is.

I was given the honor to documented the birth of Alakai. It was amazing because Ashley was able to eat all she needed, she had the option to wander her home liberally and the important people (and pets) were present and able to be key roles during the entire process.

Ashley told me she might not have remembered some of the moments of her labor and delivery if I had not photographed them. She is now forever able to look back on her labor without the pain and concentration and that gives me purpose and motivation to continue with documenting birth stories with my photography.

I enjoy sending birth stories to people and hearing that they can relive the entire process through my images.

Once in a while a single photograph can touch off different recollections generally lost, which is a marvel in of it’s own. It is so rewarding for me to be able to provide memories back to people that were unaware of moments even ever happening to them.

Some moments are not even ones that include people but items that tell parts of the story. For example, the rundown of conceivable child names hung in the kitchen, or the memory that I will always remember when Alakai’s granddad started to tenderly play the piano minutes after his introduction to the world.

That is what is rewarding for me to witness. Innocent moments that can’t always be caught in an image but merely felt and remembered by those who were present, and being given the honor to make an interpretation of them into recounting to a story.

It was never talked about yet I believe that Alakai’s granddad may have had early indications of dementia. I felt this was the case because of when he played the piano, and his wife quietly told him that it was not a fitting time to play. Even though I thought it couldn’t have been more fitting in that moment.

If you look carefully, there is a photograph where Ashley is in the small bathroom and the granddad is in the kitchen wearing 2 pairs of glasses at once. It is in these seconds that I feel most rewarding to document and witness as I am always searching for the ordinary moments that are never so ordinary in birth story photography.