Two months ago we received an interesting text message from a friend who was leaving her prenatal yoga class. She told us another girl in the class's water broke during class and she thought it was someone she'd seen recently on our blog... I quickly sent a message to my cousin Chelsea, and sure enough, her water had broken and she was having contractions already.

Chelsea and Graeme had asked if I could be there to capture this experience for them months ago, and it only took me a moment to excitedly agree. I was officially on standby, and by 2:15am I was on my way to the hospital.  

Birth photography is a brand new area for me. I first looked into it seriously 2 years ago, while I was pregnant with our daughter Neko.  I wasn't sure it was something I wanted or needed to have photographed, and I figured Shaun would be there with me and he could take some pictures.  The closer I came to my due date, and the more I looked into it, I realized it wasn't just about capturing the minute to minute process of having a baby or any of the 'specific details'. It was about capturing the time in your life where you and your partner start or grow your family.  I realized I wanted Shaun to be in all of the pictures with me and I wanted us photographed as we met our daughter for the first time. I am so thankful we had Kelsy Nielson with us that day.

I've only ever had the chance to photograph one friend's birth before, and as incredible as it was to be there for that exact moment, it still scared the crap out of me. The fact that is scares me though, is what is pushing me towards it.  There is a lot of responsibility, but also soooo much potential for greatness.  I'm falling in love with it. The process of being there to watch a woman command so much strength from her body, to witness a couple working together, and to capture all the little and enormous amounts of emotion that surface throughout the process, all of it is beautiful.  Birth photography is special and I'm grateful to have been given the opportunity to photography Rowan's birth! He came out bright eyed, and beautiful...and in an instant Graeme and Chelsea were parents who were exploding with love. xo.

Chelsea, you did an incredible job and your teamwork with Graeme and your Midwives was inspiring. Congrats again.

Steph

Here is a collection of my favourite images in a slideshow, put to a favourite song of Graeme and Chelsea's. Romulus by Sufjan Stevens.