Parents leaning in for a kiss moments after their baby is born, captured discreetly by Nelson BC birth photographer The Birth Laine

What birth photos actually are (and aren't)

Okay. For a lot of folks when they hear the term “birth photography”, they think “why would anyone want that!?” (or they plainly just say it aloud).

When people think of, or hear, about someone having their birth photographed, they think of one image - that image. TLDR; baby crowning, your downstairs parts looking some type-of-way (or the way that we’ve been told that they might?).

AND, those types of birth photos can be beautiful, inspiring, powerful, even healing - BUT, they’re not, from my experience, what most clients are really seeking when they’re considering documenting their birth.

When I photograph your birth, I'm actually capturing is the story of your day. The place, the people, the details, the arc of the energy and emotions, and the connection between you and your partner or support person.

This can look like: the clock on the wall at 2:21am. A nurse quietly charting your contraction pattern, that held-breath moment right before the room fills with a brand-new cry. Hands, faces, light, the space, the people who love you - that's the magic in birth photos. Not an anatomy lesson.

Your boundaries are my road map

As a Birth Doula, I know how to read the room and anticipate the moments to come. Throughout your labour and birth, I’m calmly reading the room and choosing angles that tell the truth of the moment without putting anything you feel private about front and centre. A single photo can hold every ounce of the intensity, effort, and sheer awe of birth - and still be one you'd happily add to your Mom’s digital photo frame (P.S - the Aura Carver digital frame is hands-down the best gift I’ve ever given to a grandparent… 10/10. Save it for your next holiday, birthday, or Mother’s/Father’s Day and thank me later 😉)

Back-on-track: If you don’t know this about me - I believe in intentional, empowered planning in pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.

Birth Photography is no different.

Before your due date, we’ll make a plan together: All of my birth photography services include a free consultation, and a 30 minute virtual planning session where we discuss your birth plans, preferences, and what you’re really excited to capture (and anything you don’t!). This is where you draw the lines: what you want documented, what's off-limits, and what you're still on the fence about. Your comfort and experience comes first-and-foremost.

Couple embracing at a home birth as non-birthing parent supports his partner through a contraction. Captured by Laine Ferguson Birth Photographer.

These images are yours. Full stop.

Here's the part I think matters most: every one of these photos belongs to you.

All of my Client’s galleries are delivered in a private gallery, password protected and verified by email. I even provide a unique download PIN that is required before any files can be downloaded from your gallery.

From there, you decide what happens with your images. Want to keep every image tucked away in Cloud storage, just for your family? Perfect. Want to order a few professional prints to have as keepsakes in your little’s nursery? Beautiful. Never post a single one? Amazing.

Nothing - and I mean nothing - is ever shared, on my website, Instagram, or anywhere else, without your explicit (and enthusiastic!) consent. This isn’t a nice-to-have - it’s at the core of my practice values and it's how I work with every family who places their trust in me.

I am endlessly grateful to my clients who make the generous and vulnerable choice to share their photos. It’s this generosity that helps me grow my work and share the raw beauty, magic, and power that is birth and these moments of transformation.

The photos you'll actually treasure

When I deliver a gallery to a Client, the images that I receive the most feedback on aren’t the moment-of-birth (which are always pretty amazing, like, how could they not be!?), they’re the frozen moments and emotions that get lost in the hormone-soup that is labour and birth

It's your face in that exact half-second when your baby is placed on your chest and your entire world turns inside-out. It's the look of awe and admiration that your partner gives you when they think no one's watching. The vulnerability in letting someone into your space to capture those moments often has a way of turning into the most tender keepsakes you own.

Less lurk-y lady with a camera, more blending in with the room

One more reassurance for my fellow logistics brains (hi, I see you 😉): I work quietly and discretely in your birthspace. Because I’m a Birth Doula, and because I know birth, I know when to hang back and give space, and when there are opportunities to work within the mood and tempo of your birth and your birth space.

Whether you're delivering at Kootenay Lake Hospital or planning to birth at home here in the West Kootenays, I move like part of the room - tucked out of the way, never between you and your care team, never the loud thing in the space. If you’ve forgotten I was there, I’ve done my job well 🙂

Assisting midwife performs newborn assessment at home birth. Photographed by Laine Ferguson Birth Photographer.

Let's map out your comfort zone

So if you’ve loved the idea of documenting your birth story, but a worry of "being exposure" has been the quiet little thing holding you back - let's connect for a chat 🤍 I offer Free Consultations for all birth doula support and birth photography services - we'll walk through your comfort zone together, boundary-by-boundary. And if after that it feels like a full-body heck yes - I’d love to support you in capturing your story 🙂