There are no poses during childbirth. Birth photography is the pinnacle of documentary storytelling, and there are several elements that may be captured. It is all about the minute details and feelings, such as the painful looks, the laughing between contractions, and the emotional text messages received. The supporting companion, shoulder rubs, holding hands, and relying on one another for support.
Late this year, Facebook and Instagram ceased banning posts about delivery and new moms as a result of the campaigning of women like as Katie Vigos of the Empowered Birth Project. Previously, the social media giants deemed birth photographs to be excessively explicit and against their standards prohibiting nudity. But Vigos (and the over 23,000 others who signed her Change.org petition) argued that by banning birth, the platforms were perpetuating the s, st, st t around it.
“You either allow birth to exist on your platform, or you don’t,” Vigos told Harper’s Bazaar. “The petition is representative of our much bigger mission to empower ourselves as women—whether it’s about our bodily autonomy, our ability to birth with informed decisions and support, censorship of our bodies, the de-stigmatization of menstruation.”
Today, a quick search of the hashtags #birthisbeautiful or #birthwithoutfear bring up hundreds of images of babies making their entrance into this world. We rounded up over 12 of the most stunning images of birth from some of our favorite photographers to show the power of capturing the moment.
