If you're considering hiring a birth photographer, you might be concerned that the photos capturing your most intimate and vulnerable moments could become public. While I cannot speak for all birth photographers (although I hope most would agree), I want to emphasize that as a professional birth photographer, I never share a single photo without consent.
It's of utmost importance to me that my clients feel completely comfortable inviting me into their birth space and trust that the images I create while documenting their birth story will never be shared without permission.
This means that sometimes my website and social media galleries may not fully represent the recent or best work I've been doing. Some of my favorite photos I've ever taken may never see the light of day except within my clients' own homes and among their families. In fact, a significant number of my clients request complete privacy and do not want even a single photo from their birth shared, so you would never know I was there if you don't know them personally.
Furthermore, the photos you do see are always shared with my clients' blessing.
I'm a strong advocate for enthusiastic consent, and I never want anyone to feel pressured into sharing photos they aren't entirely comfortable with. While my contract includes a model release that outlines the types of photos (degree of nudity or coverage) and which media platforms (social media, website, promotional print materials like business cards, etc.) a client is comfortable with, I still treat it as a general guideline and retain the final say.
Because the model release is reviewed before the photos are even taken, it's crucial to me that the photos are actually seen before a final decision is made. After all, someone's birth experience could significantly influence how they feel about the public or private sharing of their photos. So, I never share anything that hasn't been seen, even if a client has given permission for any photo to be shared anywhere. I always seek final permission for specific photos (or an entire gallery) before anything is published on my social media, website, or anywhere else.
I believe that sharing photos of the various ways that birth can happen and what it can look like is incredibly important. It educates people about their options and empowers them to make choices about their own birth experiences, options they might not have been aware of before seeing imagery that depicts the real, powerful, and incredible nature of birth (which can be very different from what most of us grew up seeing in movies and TV).
Of course, I deeply appreciate when my clients want to be part of this process. Some of my clients tell me that their desire to have a home birth, labor or give birth in different positions, or hire a birth photographer, doula, or midwife is inspired by the birth photography they saw before or during their pregnancy. And now, they want to help showcase these options to others as well.
Sometimes, people are just incredibly proud of their own strength and want to share with the world what that looks like, even if they didn't feel strong in the moment. I truly love that.
However, as many reasons as there are for sharing birth photos, there are just as many personal reasons not to share them. Just because there's immense value in making birth imagery accessible to people planning their own births doesn't mean that any individual has to be the one to put it out there.
In essence, while I love sharing my art (and, by the way, it does help prospective clients decide whether or not to hire me to document their own birth), it's not my story. While the world certainly needs to witness the vast and beautiful variety that exists in the realm of birth options, it's not the world's story either.
