“I was following along with important updates on Ansley’s progress with her labor, knowing that most of the time, when it comes to first time moms and first deliveries, things tend to move a little slower. ”
This beautiful first time mom’s birth took place at one of my favorite labor and delivery units in South Florida: Boca Raton Regional Hospital.
I love this hospital largely because it is known for its family-centered approach to maternity care, their tremendous belief in and support of local birth doulas, working together with midwives, frequent families choosing this facility for their vbacs (vaginal birth after c-section) and the labor and delivery RNs at this hospital are entirely familiar with and supportive of women planning unmedicated deliveries. In fact, every one of their 12 labor and delivery rooms at Boca Regional have a large poster of all the recommending positions to try in labor to help babies move down from Spinning Babies. When I first started seeing these posters displayed in the L&D rooms, I initially was surprised and then realized, why am I surprised? Their RNs are known for using essential oils to help calm or invigorate laboring mamas, warm blankets when laboring women aren’t using shower/tubs for hydrotherapy in labor to give them the comfort and relaxation of ‘warm therapy’, they are so familiar with and use to walking into the delivery room that has all the lights off, gentle music playing, essential oils diffusing, and light machines set up with stars or mimicking aurora borealis on the walls and ceiling to help set the mood. Of course these nurses would be completely down with following Spinning Babies protocol on moving babies down! Anything to lower unnecessary and unwanted c-section rates!
And if you’re unfamiliar with Spinning Babies, its a physical approach to birth that helps baby to rotate during labor which lengthens and tones the muscles, balances your body in labor, and releases your myofascia so that if rotation is easier for the baby, birth is easier for the mother.
If you're curious about other birth spaces, such as birth centers and home births, I have photographed a beautiful and peaceful water births, and one specific one comes to mind at a local birthing center Natural BirthWorks Birth Center Water Birth. Remember moms, each birth experience is unique and special in its own way, and as long as my birth photography client feels empowered, safe and happy, and is trusting her birth team, I am 100% supportive of the birth she prefers, whether medical, home, surgical, etc.
It is possible that if you’re in the last few weeks of your pregnancy, nearing full term (37 weeks and more) to find and hire your Birth Photographer Photographer last minute for your birth, although it is so incredibly tricky!
Let me explain:
I usually work with a maximum of two Birth Photography clients in each month (and mainly in Boca Raton).
Yes, I can absolutely take more clients, but rarely do.
If my clients births overlap, I need to call in my backup photographer. And while my backup has been vetted by myself, it isn’t me. And then my Birth Photography client would need to add a stranger (stranger to them) to their birth team at the last minute.
Most of my Birth Photography clients hire me during their first trimester (between 6 weeks to 12 weeks of pregnancy) or second trimester (13 weeks to 28 weeks of pregnancy) because it matters to them who is part of their birth team during their baby’s delivery.
While there’s many pregnancy and newborn photographers in south Florida, there’s only one of me, and often, that’s enough reason for my clients to want to invest in On-Call time with me and appreciate that I limit my monthly Birth clients to two, which reduces the risk of overlapping births.
And that’s why I absolutely enjoy working with two Birth Photography clients each month, I get to know my Birth clients well, and the closer I am to a Birth Photography client and her family, the more part of her birth team I feel, and in turn, the better her Birth Photos are.
Birth Photography is an art form, and just like all artists, I am driven by emotions and emotional connections with people. I love what I do!
This first time mom and dad did not get the opportunity to hire me earlier in their pregnancy, but we were so glad that the stars aligned and I was able to attend the birth of their first baby, a sweet newborn baby boy.
This little one was born just four days after my 2023 January Birth Photography client gave birth to her twins and one week before my 2023 February Birth Photography client gave birth to her daughter.
That kind of star alignment happens for an Aquarius baby, I’m telling you! :)
If you love Birth Stories, Thanks for hanging out!
Scroll Down to get started and read more of Baby Boy Layton’s Birth Story at Baptist Boca Raton Regional Hospital with his parents, grandmother and Midwives from Boca Midwifery below!
My client and I had been texting and emailing and even did a quick-prenatal visit on the phone during the last few weeks of her pregnancy with her first baby.
Ever since she and her husband decided they wanted to have me as a part of their Birth team for their first birth, along with her mom, Midwives and Labor and Delivery Nurses. She was planning to give birth to her first baby at Baptist Boca Raton Regional Hospital (the East Boca Hospital near Glades Road, east of I-95 *please note the two Boca Raton Hospitals are not in anyway connected, it’s two completely different companies — One Hospital is owned by Baptist, (while the other hospital out west on 441 is Tenet owned).
Even though everything was super last minute with this family, when it works out so well and the stars align, it was clearly meant to be.
I was super excited for my client and her husband having their very first baby, and at one of my favorite hospitals in south Florida and with one of my favorite Midwifery teams.
The morning that my client went into labor with her first baby (January 20th around 430am), we were texting back and forth the way I do with all my laboring clients.
I was following along with important updates on progress with labor, knowing that most of the time, when it comes to first time moms and first deliveries, things tend to move a little slower.
My client saw her Certified Nurse Midwife at Boca Midwifery later that morning while contractions were 30-40 seconds in length, occurring every 4-6 minutes. Typically, to be in the ‘active’ stage of labor, your contractions should ideally be around 60 seconds in length, every 3-5 minutes.
If you love my client’s green labor and delivery gown, you can find it here https://amzn.to/3Zmzmne my affiliate link and a percent goes to me :)
