When I was pregnant with Cohen I searched for anything to do with maternity. Lamaze classes, maternity yoga, support places, anything.
I was heart broken to discover that we had nothing available, no classes, no yoga, not even a birth centre.
I longed to be in Melbourne doing Juju Sundin’s Birth classes, or be anywhere doing anything that would prepare me for the biggest day of my life.
Right then I started dreaming of opening our own birth centre, one that could provide information for all sorts of services available. Want a Doula? We have them. What maternity fitness classes? Yep we have them. Don’t want to have your baby in a hospital? We can help you there too.
Everything in the one place with all the options available to expecting mothers who wanted them.
Yes that was a huge dream. One that was really unthinkable considering I did not have a clue at all.
But still, it was nice to think of.
When I hit 38 weeks my waters broke. Then the day after that I was induced.
After 2 hours of stuffing around and some irregular contractions, at 12 noon, the midwife declared established labour.
5 and a half hours later a beautiful baby boy was born. Our beautiful baby boy.
I had had the most fantastic pregnancy and a great birth, and now we were welcoming a new life into the world. Into our world.
From that moment I knew I had to have something to do with the birth experience.
But what, I didn’t know.
For months after, in between colic, reflux, breastfeeding and catching up on sleep, I thought of what I could do. What is there that would have me helping people with their own birth experiences?
The only thing I could think of was becoming a Doula.
Not something I was overly interested in doing, but the thought was there.
5 months after having Cohen my husband brought me a DSLR camera and told me to pursue my life dream of having my own photography business. Something I had had a passion for since a high school art class.
I soon focused all my attention on that and the Doula job was forgotten, though the birth experience wasn’t.
I think it may have been the start of 2010 when I come across some photographer websites that done birth photography. I didn’t even know that people done this. How I didn’t think of this still has me confused!
Why hadn’t I thought of this? What a whole new world I had discovered.
Very shortly after that I had a friend post me a birth slide show saying that this is what I should do.
A new world of possibilities had opened up and my dream to document birth experiences ignited.
Well that dream I dreamt for a long time.
Now, that dream has come true.
This year I am venturing into birth photography.
Documenting personal birth experiences.
Being there to capture your birth story.
You may be reading this with excitement, or you may have no idea – or a gross one – of what birth photography is.
With permission from Lyndsay Stradtner from Life in Motion Photography, here are some slide shows to show you what birth photography is about.
http://www.lifeinmotionphotography.com/birth/index2.php
It is about capturing your story.
About the welcoming of your child into the world.
About welcoming them into your family.
I will be adding another tab to the top of my blog with information on capturing your birth story.
If you would like to contact me you can by email or by calling 0411372357.
This is such a dream for me that it has taken a great amount of courage just to make it come to life.
When you have a dream for so long and it is something you are so passionate about, the thought of it becoming real is both terrifying and exciting.
Exciting because it is real, terrifying because if it doesn’t work, it will take your heart with it.
When you have reached your dream, what do you do?
My husband says ‘have a beer’.
I say, let it fly, wish for the best, and hope that this is your dream too.
For me to be there to help capture your birth story. Your baby’s birth story.
I can’t wait.
Sara.x
