BIRTH PHOTOGRAPHY WITH WHISPER PHOTO CO.

There are several times in our careers that a moment of realization takes us by surprise. Whether it’s on the boudoir side of things and we realize that we’ve helped a woman remember that she is beautiful and powerful, or on the family side when we get to capture a moment that is filled with so much love and emotion. With birth photography, it’s almost a constant feeling! Being a part of this incredible life event is a feeling that is so hard to describe. We always feel such a special connection to our birth clients and babies, and it’s no surprise that this is one of our absolute favorite types of sessions.

The idea of having a photographer in your hospital or home during birth can definitely be a slightly uncomfortable one, though! We absolutely understand the vulnerability that you feel, so allow me to help calm those nerves and explain what exactly a birth photography session with Whisper Photo Co. entails.

Whether you’re choosing to give birth in a hospital, birthing center, or at your home, we will absolutely be there for you! Some hospitals and birthing centers do have restrictions on whether or not we’re allowed in the room (thanks COVID), so we always suggest reaching out to them to learn their policies. Our recent birth’s hospital only allowed 2 names on the guest list, while another allowed 2 people in the room at a time, but people could rotate through. Basically, always call and check beforehand!

Included in our birth package is your full digital gallery, too! You won’t have to choose favorites or anything like that, you receive every edited digital image from your birth.

Our birth photography experience is very documentary-style, so a bit different than our other sessions. And it kind of has to be, because there’s no way we can ask you to look at the camera and smile in the middle of a contraction! “Hey hon, I know you’re pushing out a baby right now, but can you lift your chin a bit?” Yeah… no thanks. We act like a fly on the wall during your birth, floating around the edges and capturing every moment.

“Okay… but how does this all work, with how unpredictable birth can be?”

Actually, pretty easily! Once you book, we mark your due date on our calendar. We only schedule 1 birth per month because obviously, babies don’t always come on their due date! Actually, it’s only 5% of babies that arrive right on time- so we have plans set up for this.

Sometime around 4-6 weeks before your due date, we will have a consultation! Your photographer will sit down with you and go over everything, and we’ll also check in to see if any changes have been made to your due date. Then, based on what we talk about, we’ll nail down a plan from there.

Then, once you’re at that 38 week mark, we will start our On Call procedure! Basically what this means is that we will be ready and waiting for that “The baby is coming!” call. We will make sure that we don’t have any travel sessions scheduled around that time, and will have our team ready and waiting for your call. Of course, if you go into labor earlier than that 38 weeks, still call us!

We also know that previous birth history and how your pregnancy is going can be an indicator of if you will deliver early or late. Just let us know what is going on as far as your timeline, and we will adjust ours as necessary!

Once you give us the call that you are actively in labor, we will arrive when you are about 5-6 cm. Once we arrive, we’re there with you to the end! We have an amazing team of photographers to rotate through (if the hospital/birth center allows) to ensure that we capture every moment- even if you’re laboring for a while. One of our photographers will be there til the end, and even for a little while afterwards! Of course the birth is a magical experience, but we want to be sure to capture those precious first moments with your baby. Sibling and family introductions, the first feeding, and that first check by the doctors is so important and we want to be sure to photograph those first memories.

So now that you have read what our birth photography experience is like and have seen some of the photos we capture, what are you waiting for?! Send this blog to someone you know that’s expecting, or if you’re expecting yourself, tap the button below to send us an email so we can start planning YOUR birth photography experience!