Home Birth // It’s a fantastic feeling to do what you truly love and for others to be so receptive of it. Never would I ever have thought the response would be what it is and it continues to be.

A little over six years ago I found out that we were expecting our 2nd baby and immediately knew I wanted to go through this home birth differently.

Images by STEPHANIE CABRERA

I decided to have a water home birth with a Midwife and Doula. With much research and preparation, I experienced the most empowering feelings I’ve ever come to know, the power that we have of giving life.

I became obsessed with our bodies, our potential, and the ability we indeed possess as women.

Years went by…and eventually a spark ignited it all. This slow season I vowed to focus on myself, on doing what makes me happy not what makes me more money.

I had wanted to photograph births for so long, here was my chance. I posted about my availability, and someone replied right away.

She was due very soon, this felt like a great way to start building up my portfolio immediately. Not knowing much about Shauntay, whose home birth I’d be witnessing and photographing, I prepped all my stuff for the big moment.

On Sunday, January 8th around 3:30 am I receive a call from Shauntay’s midwife…she’s in active labor!

Shauntay had been dealing with pain for about seven days already with Prodromal labor, and we all knew she was exhausted. I jumped out of bed grabbed my bag and left.

As I rushed over to her house I couldn’t help but feel relief and anxiety for Shauntay, she had been through so much and today would be the day. She would have a water home birth.

When I got there, things were a bit calm, but you could feel the mental and emotional activity happening. Mama was giving it to her all through the contractions.

She was tired; she felt defeated; I get it I’ve been there. ‘you have to do this,’ ‘no one else can do it for you’ ‘you have to do this now cause this baby is coming’ that’s what we all knew she felt.

That feeling of being defeated but having to continue somehow. She sent everyone other than her Midwife (Bethany Stricker) and Doula (Courtney butts) out of the room.

Two assistant Midwives (Jennifer Mozeke) (Becky Thorpe) and I waited anxiously outside of the door as momma screamed and roared in the other room.

We waited for quite a bit until a bit of silence we had was broken by a loud shout “I have to push now!” We all ran in like a pack of lionesses tending to their young and got ready to welcome this beautiful being into our world.

With everyone ready to help her and I ready to document within a minute she lets out the biggest roar of the night, with that push the baby crowned.

Followed by what can only be described as; a roar unlike any other, not loud, not shrill, a roar of accomplishment, strength, and power, the ‘roar of life.’ She had been reaching down, and when he was out, she pulled him close to her chest as fast as she could.

She couldn’t believe he was finally here, all the months leading up to this moment, the mirror selfies, the belly rubs the surprise kicks, all of them now had a face, ten fingers, and ten cute little toes.

The tears would not stop flowing, she had the love she carried inside of her for so long finally in her arms, resting on her chest.

She could now hear and feel him breathe, and she had done it. She had summoned all her strength and courage to bring this beautiful little bundle of love into the world, a proud Mama.

This is what I love. This is what moves me. Home births are more than a statistic, more than an inconvenience you want to get over with.

The women of Abide Women Services know this all too well and try their hardest to bring this beautiful experience to everyone they can, working with low-income families and women to bring them the best care in the most natural way.

It’s people and communities like this that motivate me to continue. Women need to know their worth not what someone perceived our worth to be. I want and will continue to document women in all their glory and power.

I’m super excited to experience and learn so much more along this journey.

We really hope you enjoyed this home birth/water birth by Stephanie Cabrera and the power her images have. Birth photography is something special and unique and capturing images of birth is one of the most fascinating things ever.

There are many ways in capturing Birth Story Photography but the way Stephanie was able to capture this birth of a child is truly unique and memorable.

Please consider donating to the amazing Abide Women’s Services. The link is available through their site. 

LOOKSLIKEFILM is also your daily inspiration when it comes to photography created by our amazing artists from all over the world!

You should probably check out our Facebook group and our Instagram feed.  Besides that, you can give us a follow on Pinterest as well.

You might also want to check our posts for Maternity Photography, Kids Photography & the best family photos of 2018!

You can also sign up to be listed as one of our birth photographers on our “Photographers near me” list and add your profile to pages like Birth Photographer Utah, Birth Photographer Chicago, Birth Photographer Denver and many more!

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Birth Story Photography was not something I planned on doing on the regular. I thought I’d try it once, probably be so overwhelmed that I wouldn’t do it again, but I was wrong.

After just photographing the first birth of a child, I was hooked, and soon people were buzzing about that I was photographing births and I started getting more women who were interested in booking with me.

It’s harder to book a birth because you must be on call 24/7 for anywhere from a week to 2 months because as you know babies don’t arrive according to any other plans but their own.

And coverage could be anywhere from 2 to 30 hours. You could get called at 3 in the afternoon or 1 o’clock in the morning, there is nothing straight forward about doing birth photography, but that’s what makes it exciting and rewarding is how unique each experience is.

For me, birth photography is so rewarding because I am honored to witness and be part of the most intimate moments in someone’s life.

Even more than the mother experiencing labor and delivery, I also witness siblings and parents and grandparents as they are also a big part of the process.

It’s rewarding for me to be able to add assistance in for the mother where I can, and I love learning about the entire process so I can help educate my clients on what to expect.

It’s rewarding to see the different environments and approaches that women take when bringing their baby into the world. I’ve photographed births at hospitals, birthing centers, and homes.

I have even had a client once have her baby in the truck on the way to the hospital. When I was born, I was born at home and I will always cherish that special part of me, and I believe that’s a big part of why I feel so connected to birth.

Being at home is sacred and I believe it is the perfect place to bring a baby into the world, and I really think it’s beginning to make a come back especially the more normalized it becomes by shedding light on just how beautiful that process can be.

When I documented the birth of Alakai, Ashley was able to eat all she wanted, she was able to roam her house freely and the most important people (and pets) were able to play major roles in the whole process.

Ashley may not have recalled many of these moments had I not documented them, so for her to be able to reflect on the event outside of her pain and focus, gives me great joy from my birth story photography.

I’ve always loved delivering images to people and they express how they had no recollection of certain things had it not been for my photos.

Sometimes one photo can ignite multiple memories otherwise lost, which is a miracle on its own. It’s rewarding for me to give moments back to people that didn’t even realize those moments were occurring until later.

Some moments are not even moments that involve people but objects that tell parts of the story such as the list of possible baby names hung in the kitchen, or the memory that I will never forget when Alakai’s grandfather began to gently play the piano moments after his birth.

That’s rewarding for me to witness, these innocent moments that can’t always be documented but simply felt and remembered by those who were present, and being given the job to translate them into telling a story.

And if you look closely there’s an image where Ashley is using the toilet and the grandfather is at the kitchen sink wearing 2 pairs of glasses. These moments are rewarding for me to document as I always look for the out of the ordinary moments during my birth story photography.

by Brianna Waltman

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Birth of a child// Birth Photographer Lisa Aamot, one of our Best Birth Photography Artist of 2018, wanted to share some words about the way giving birth, changed the way she sees life.

The art of giving birth is nothing short of magic. If I’m honest though, I used to sit right in the middle of the camp that wanted nothing to do with birth photography. That is until I became a mother myself.

I have given birth twice now, and although it may sound strange, those two days will forever be my favorite days in this lifetime. There’s no perfect words or way to really describe what takes place in a birth room – unless you have gone through it, or been a witness to its magic. 

Becoming a mother has changed the way I photograph life. I see the beauty of it from the lens that only a mother can see through. I know first hand how fleeting those moments are.

The pain of labor feels long and exhausting, but the moment you lay eyes on that impossibly small human, it’s a split second you endured. None of the pain matters. I know first hand that strange feeling of a wet hot baby on your chest will become something you will miss deep in your bones.

Those first split seconds of saying hello to someone that already knows you so well. In some beautiful way, you are meeting the most familiar stranger. 

There are some images of birth that capture that unspeakable beauty. Those powerful moments of agony intertwined with relief and bliss close to the birth of a child. Every time I capture motherhood I find myself focused on the emotion.

On the tiny details, and the in-betweens. The seemingly unimportant moments that pass so quickly they fall between the cracks of our memory – like a partner lending their hand to be squeezed, or the moment a mother first lays eyes on her child.

One day that same mother will wake up to a pitter patter of tiny feet sneaking off to make a mess. One day that same mother will wake up to a grown child that has no trace of sweet thigh rolls or wrinkles in strange places.

That mother should have moments captured to look back on and hold onto. To find comfort, and a small slice of the magic she once experienced. That is my goal as a mother. To give other mothers a concrete bit of that magic back.

LOOKSLIKEFILM is also your daily inspiration when it comes to photography created by our amazing artists from all over the world!  You should probably check out our Facebook group and our Instagram feed.  Besides that, you can give us a follow on Pinterest as well.

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