Few things are more powerful – both beautiful and excruciating – than childbirth.
And this collection of images is testament to that.
These are the winners of the International Association of Professional Birth Photographers’ annual competition.
The photos from the United States, Canada and Mexico capture everything – from water births to labor in the car; from crowning to holding the baby.
Some show the spectators – an eyes-wide child peering as a man helps a woman deliver, or a midwife nonchalantly continuing as fluid sprays over him.
One captures the moment a father, recently diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, holds his son in his arms for the very first time and speaks to him about the future.
The competition, which is in its sixth year, took place in Austin, Texas.
The winning shot went to Road to Deliverance by Canadian photographer Jaydene Freund. It shows a woman in labor, tensing in pain in the passenger seat of a car.
Best in the Labor category went to Determination by Katie Mathis – a birds-eye-view of a woman gripping the side of a birthing pool as the water serenely surrounds her belly.
The Delivery category winner was Elizabeth Farnsworth, who captured a woman on all fours, fluid spraying, and an incredibly calm-looking medic focusing intently on the baby’s head.
And the winner for Birth Details went to the stunning image by Kourtnie Scholz, Pieces Of Me, showing a mother clutching her newborn, with the umbilical cord and placenta lying on her body.
Natasha Hance, the photographer who won the Postpartum category, has documented hundreds of births with her photography partner Amanda.
This birth, she told Daily Mail Online, was breathtaking for its setting.
The couple had intended to have a water birth in a pool on their porch in the sunny light of Texas.
As is often the case with childbirth, things didn’t exactly go as planned, and the baby was delivered before they could make it to the bath.
However, afterwards the couple made it into a herbal pool with their newborn. And that’s when Natasha got her shot.
‘When Amanda and I noticed the clouds reflecting around the baby in the water we both gasped when we saw it on the back of my camera. It couldn’t have been more perfect,’ she told Daily Mail Online.
Despite having been in the birthing photography industry for a while, she said the emotion still never wears off.
‘We definitely get teary eyed all the time but also stay professional and not overly emotional. It’s especially hard to hold the tears when it’s an emotionally charged birth and other people in the room are crying or squealing.
‘We’ve documented at least 300 births and it’s probably safe to say we get teary eyed at least once at each birth.’
That sentiment was echoed by KimBerly E, the photographer who got an honorable mention for her photo of a baby born into a water birth still in its sack – with its hands on its head.
This birth was special – it was a fellow birthing photographer and friend – and the shot was spectacular – ‘I’ve never seen anything like it before!’
But, KimBerly explained, there is something that gets her about every birth, no matter how many she does.
She started by taking photos for a friend as a favor. Then, as she puts it, ‘I was hooked’.
‘I was captivated. It’s beautiful and it’s gorgeous. It’s not taboo,’ KimBerly told Daily Mail Online.
‘I want to capture every moment for mum and dad to look back on, and really I want to help them see what they don’t see.
‘They don’t see dad rubbing their back, or how beautiful and majestic they look when they’re birthing. It’s about the raw beauty of birth.’
One of the stories, in particular, captured that beauty – and more. Sarah Boccolucci’s image is one of the only ones that has the father as the main focus.
The father, Cagney Wenk, was diagnosed with Stage IV brain cancer two months before the baby – his firstborn with wife Jessica – arrived in September. Cagney died on December 23, 2016.
On the day of the birth, the team at Boulder Community Hospital arranged for all of his medical equipment to be brought into the delivery room.
Through tears, Sarah described documenting the birth.
‘It was pretty life-changing for me,’ she told Daily Mail Online.
‘It really – with laser pinpoint accuracy – showed why birth photography is so important. It’s nice for all the families to have that moment documented. But in this case, I could feel the importance of it.’
Sarah’s image captures the moment held his son, Levon, for the first time.
‘He was just telling him about the future, and speaking to him about life,’ Sarah said, her voice cracking with tears.
‘I can’t help crying. It was just amazing.’
Source: dailymail
