3 Reasons Why You Should Hire a Birth Photographer

“What are the benefits of having a birth photographer?” “Who had a birth photographer? Did having them in the room distract you?” “How do you convince your husband that birth photography is worth it?” “Is birth photography/videography worth it?” These are some of the questions I see in my mom-based FB groups – and honestly, I had many of the same questions when I was trying to decide if we should have a birth photographer for my first birth.

The birth images and films I’d seen tugged at my heartstrings, BIG time. I wanted to see myself as powerful! To hold onto my birth as something transformative and important, to not lose the details of meeting our girlie for the first time to faulty memory and labor-land. But the investment felt BIG (even though we’d invest 3x as much in documenting Sofie’s birth a couple years later), and honestly, I didn’t have a lot of practice investing in anything I truly wanted. #hindsight, right? Ben felt a bit confused and reluctant – why would I want to be photographed pretty much naked after what promised to be the biggest marathon and vulnerable experience of my life? I couldn’t come up with the words to describe it, but when I decided last minute that I wasn’t going to miss out on documenting this experience, Ben supported my intuition, and we hired our birth photographer (which we still pretty much missed out on, but that’s another story).

That’s me. But why should you hire a birth photographer? What makes that kind of investment worth it? I’d argue it comes down to 3 reasons:

1. Birth photography/videography is crazy hard to DIY; really, I’d only trust a professional with solid birth experience to document the experience meaningfully, with quality results.
2. The rest of your birth team (your partner, medical provider, nurses, etc.) should be focused on supporting you, not documenting things for you.
3. Probably most important: your birth experience is an important, life-changing event, and should be honored and remembered.

1. Because a Birth Professional is Best Qualified

If you already value hiring a professional to document important events, this point is a no-brainer. But let’s go ahead and run through a little hypothetical scenario of DIY-ing this. Go ahead, google “how to take good pictures with your phone” or “how to DIY ____ photography.” You’ll find LOTS of tips (some great, some… not so much). How to find the best, beautiful light (outside right before/after sunset/sunrise; inside at the brightest part of the day). Use the rule of thirds to compose your image in a more eye-pleasing way. Don’t shoot up people’s noses. Angle your subject so the light is flattering. Simplify the background. The more diffused, even light you have, the better it’ll look.

Now let’s consider what we have to work with in the birth space. Mayyybe you’ll happen to give birth in a beautiful space, not too far from a large window, during the middle of the day. But – aside from choosing your birth location – there isn’t much you can do to control that! Baby will come when they come – that might be in the middle of the night in a space lit exclusively by candlelight (after all, birth tends to prefer darkness), or in a hospital room with yellow overhead lights mixing with whatever light is coming from whatever windows you might have (or not, if it’s the middle of the night), or in the OR with bright spotlights. ALL of those are a FAR cry from diffused, even light, and are honestly really, really difficult to work with well. (THIS is a major reason why birth photographers and videographers invest thousands into both having and knowing low-light capable, high-quality equipment.)

Unpredictable is the name of the game in birth; we don’t control where the birthing person chooses to labor, when and where that babe is born, what time of day, what lights are on, how everyone reacts, where everyone stands. Not only does that affect what light we have to work with, it also means we have to do the moving to get the best, most impactful angles, to compose our images well, to use what light we have (or add, discreetfully and respectfully). Sometimes that’s in a crowded, small bathroom where mama suddenly feels the urge to push and baby is born minutes later. Sometimes that’s in a hospital room where you’re backed into a small corner, and you just have to get creative. And sometimes that’s knowing to just be still for a while, to wait for the most impactful moments to document.

My point: birth photography and videography is unique, beautiful, and freaking HARD WORK! So do yourself a favor and hand that task over to a professional – who’s prepared to use their knowledge, gear, and experience to tell your story with beautiful, meaningful images – do it!!

Important side note here: I highly recommend hiring a BIRTH photographer/videographer (aka someone who specializes in and is familiar with birth). Though you’ll likely find plenty of other photographers who will photograph your birth (for likely a whole lot less), remember you get what you pay for! Many well-intentioned wedding and family photographers simply underestimate the work behind birth photography (especially the part where they have to be ready to attend your birth at any time), and just can’t give you the quality experience you think you’ve invested in. From my experience, most experienced birth photographers are at least a $2000 investment (with most open to payment plans and trades of services; some can also sustain scholarships or a sliding scale to help under-resourced and underrepresented families access birth documentation).

2. So Your Birth Team can Focus on Supporting You

Gut check: do you believe that you’re worth supporting? Then give your birth team space to serve you best by giving you their best! What does that best look like? How do you want your partner supporting you? Your medical provider? Nurses? Doula? Do you want any of them supporting you while also stepping away to photograph it? Are any of them practiced in doing that?

I believe this is ESPECIALLY important when it comes to partners. After all, this is THEIR child and birth experience, too; they’ll go through their own rollercoaster of anticipation and worry and exhaustion, all while also being there for you. That’s HARD WORK! Taking things they might not be best at (or are even great at) off their plate (like documenting your birth by hiring a photographer, or being your sole support and birth coach by hiring a doula) gives them space to fully experience their child’s birth and be their best for you.

Though as a doulatog, I do balance the role of doula and photographer/videographer, let me say: it is NOT easy, and doesn’t work for every family. I know plenty of birth photographers and doulas that don’t offer both because it’s not what they love (gotta love it for the work it takes!) or they don’t feel confident enough in one skill or the other to do both yet.

3. To Honor and Remember Your Birth

This is probably the MOST important reason to consider hiring a professional birth photographer; the reason why documenting your birth (in general) is not only a good idea, but an IMPORTANT, even essential, one. After all, your child’s birth will only happen once; this will be a unique, life-changing, and significant chapter of your story. Doesn’t that kind of experience deserve to be honored and remembered? Doesn’t your birth story deserve to be told?

Of course, there are many ways to tell, preserve, and honor the beauty of your unique birth story. I wrote Eleanor’s birth story in a journal just for her (and then in my journal, and then briefly in our family yearbook, and then here on the blog). I have a shadow box with little mementos in her room. And, of course, most of those also include our birth images – her tiny, slim fingers, our first latch, the first time my husband held her. They, along with our birth film, just help tell our story in a way that words, items, and memory alone can’t quite do. And Eleanor (now 3, going on 4), absolutely loves to see herself and how she came into our family.

It’s also important to ask yourself – will you be able to remember the details of your birth experience? What do you want to remember?

Personally, there are a LOT of parts of my birth experience that are a big blur – or I don’t remember at all – because our photographer wasn’t there with us at that point and I didn’t or couldn’t write it down. What did my husband’s face look like right after Eleanor was born? Did I cry? What did my placenta look like? Some things I only remember or know because we have pictures or video of them (Eleanor had vernix, her sweet cry, how dark her eyes were). But there are also certain little pinpoints of memory that are still clear as day, despite not having images of those moments – how much of a difference Ben’s counterpressure made, when someone mentioned maybe doing an episiotomy during pushing, how determined and exhausted I felt during that last hour or so. I WISH I could go back and get our photographer there earlier (all those details in her birth story) so I could remember and see more.

There’s an extra bonus – a side-effect, if you will – of seeing, remembering, telling, and retelling your birth story: it’s healing. Empowering – for you, your partner, for even your child. There’s probably some research out there that can explain why; I can just say that it’s what happened for me and so, so many others.

Just imagine being able to see your birth through someone else’s eyes – someone who sees you as powerful, beautiful, and successful, even in this most vulnerable of experiences. Imagine being able to see your courage and strength, even when you faced an unknown or felt weak. Imagine being able to see your moments of triumph after all the difficulties. Imagine being able to look back – whenever either of you needed a reminder – and see how your partner was there for you when you needed them most. Imagine sitting down with your child, years down the road, and them being able to see how absolutely LOVED and WORKED for and TREASURED they were by each of you- from the very beginning!

And THAT’s what I want for you, and for every family. It’s why I believe that professional birth photographers (and videographers) are worth their weight in gold. It’s why I believe you are worth investing in. And if you feel a birth photographer doesn’t align with your birth plan, or crazy things like COVID keep a photographer of your birth space, it’s why I believe your birth story is still worth documenting, remembering, and telling – however you can. Because your birth story is worth telling.