30+ of the Most Beautiful Moments in Birth Photography
Written by Erin Feher
Photography by
Photographed by Sadie Wild
We are in the golden age of birth photography—a medium that just a decade ago was almost non-existent. And while some may attribute the rise of the new profession to our penchant to want to photograph (and subsequently share) every single moment of our lives, we prefer to see a parallel with the rise in women demanding to be seen and heard on previously taboo subjects. Thanks to the activism of women like Katie Vigos of the Empowered Birth Project, Facebook and Instagram stopped removing posts of childbirth and breastfeeding mothers late last year. Previously, the social media giants considered birth photos too graphic and in violation of their policies against nudity. But Vigos (and the more than 23,000 people who signed her Change.org petition) believed that by censoring birth, the platforms were reenforcing the shame, stigma, and social taboo around it. “You either allow birth to exist on your platform, or you don’t,” Vigos told Harper’s Bazaar. “The petition is representative of our much bigger mission to empower ourselves as women—whether it’s about our bodily autonomy, our ability to birth with informed decisions and support, censorship of our bodies, the de-stigmatization of menstruation.” Today, a quick search of the hashtags #birthisbeautiful or #birthwithoutfear bring up hundreds of images of babies making their entrance into this world. We rounded up over 30 of the most stunning images of birth from some of our favorite photographers to show the power of capturing the moment. Click though to see them all (and be sure to have some tissues handy).
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Thank you so much for this. I am a doula and find it so impactful when birth is accurately represented. Beautiful post!