The week before Christmas, baby Miles was welcomed into this world and into his parents arms in the comfort of their own home. Mom was so strong pushing through the pain as she labored, dad and grandma were huge helping hands and support givers, and big sister was a rockstar cheering mom on telling her how good she was doing pushing baby Miles out. Of course, this home birth would not have been possible without the incredible support team of their Midwife, Maura (of Fika Midwifery), Maura's assistant Nicole, and their doula, Lori (of WNY Childbirth), who I was so thrilled to work alongside for this special experience.
This birth was extra special to me as it marked the end of yet another successful season photographing births. Between the time I started doing birth photography in January of 2016 and the end of 2017, I was invited to document 14 birth stories. These birth stories took place in variety of locations – including the Birthing Center of Buffalo; Buffalo Midwifery Services; several home birth locations; Sister's Hospital, Mercy Hospital, and Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospitals in Buffalo; United Memorial Medical Center in Batavia; and even Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester. Each was unique and special in their own way, and every single one left me so amazed and in awe of the strength of women and their support teams. To all of those who invited me in to your birth space to document and share the memories of your little one's welcome into this world: THANK YOU. Even though I know words of thanks can never even hold a candle to the amount of gratitude I hold in my heart for your trust, it still must be said and will continue to be said a million times over.
As I begin another year of work, I hope to be invited to even more births and currently have several openings remaining throughout the 2018 year, especially between now and the end of April (potentially early May depending on the due date). If you are expecting and have been thinking about having a birth photographer but have a ton of questions or uncertainty, please do not hesitate to reach out. I'd be happy to set up a call or meet with you to go over any thoughts/questions you might have to see if it's a good fit for your needs. And if concerns of privacy are the biggest thing holding you back, please rest assured that if booking birth photography services with me, we will always discuss your level of comfort with the photos taken ahead of time, and afterwards, I will NEVER share any images without your consent first. I do not do birth photography simply to create and share all the images I take. I do it because I am passionate about providing my clients with images of an experience that is going to go by to them like a blur. Whether or not those images ever get shared for others to see, is 100% up to the discretion of my clients.
And now, I am over-the-moon thrilled to share this birth story with you: the welcoming of Baby Miles.
