Birth photography is something I've wanted to get into ever since I started my photography journey. When my sister Karen announced that she was pregnant way back when COVID wasn't really on our minds, I offered to photograph her labor and delivery, knowing that she wished she had photos of her L&D of her first. My family lives in New York, and I live in West Virginia, so the plan was to drive up at the first signs of labor. But then COVID hit and we were all unsure of what October was going to look like, but I was optimistic. Summer came, and we were looking ahead to fall with much more apprehension than we had in the spring. Hospitals continued to restrict people in the L&D room to the laboring mother and birth partner only, so I suggested we plan on doing a Fresh 48 instead (photos of the baby within the first 48 hours). Then NY added WV to their travel advisory and required anyone traveling to NY to quarantine for 14 days before having any contact with people within the state, including family. So, after some brainstorming sessions, we landed on Will (Karen's husband, a photographer himself) setting up his camera on a tripod and putting it on a timer so it took photos every so many seconds throughout the labor and the delivery, and then handing them off to me to edit.
My sister Sarah was Karen's L&D nurse, and constantly encouraged her through the labor, calmly reciting mantras to Karen that gave her the strength and courage she needed. Karen's L&D with her oldest was traumatic, but this birth, which occurred in the same delivery room as her first, was healing. Her strength and determination were evident throughout all of the photos, and I teared up multiple times while editing them.
Sarah found some time to take a few photos for me with her iPhone throughout the labor. All of the vertical photos you see below were taken with an iPhone, and all of the horizontal photos were taken with a Canon EOS 800D with a 17-40mm f/4 lens.
