Only days after the outrageous article about a birth photographer refusing to enter the operating room (OR) went viral, here I was at 6am, begging doctors and nurses to allow me to go in, not only as a birth photographer but also as an extra support person.
Standing there and being told that I was not going to be allowed to enter the OR to take photos of the birth of this baby, and support this mum to be, made my heart ache.
I was gutted, to say the least.
I stood in the room, in front of the parents trying so hard to fight the tears from rolling down my face, (I swear I was blinking like an indicator) biting my tongue so as not to make the situation worse.
Who wrote this policy and what are they thinking to dictate a women’s right to professional photographs of the most important day of her life?
As a three-time caesarean mother myself, I know first-hand how important these images are and the immense healing power they serve in the postpartum period.
Having had an emergency caesarean due to a life-threatening condition at 32 weeks with my first pregnancy, I know all to well what it is like to have little to no recollection of the birth of your baby. I wish SO much almost every day that we had just one image from her birth, just something to trigger a memory or anything that recorded that day.
During a natural vaginal delivery, we know that the neocortex part of the brain switches off, allowing the body to enter that primal state of purely focusing on bringing the baby down and out. Photographs serve as the perfect pieces to the overall story of a women’s birth experience.
It allows her to process her entire birth without gaps in her memory. It allows her to heal if there was birth trauma. It allows her to be empowered, inspired and gives her the opportunity to share her birth story to educate future generations. It allows us to help normalise birth; all types of birth.
Top Comments
You kinda just compared photography with nursing/medicine. ???
1st rule is safety for the patient and baby, 2nd rule is what the healthcare professionals are comfortable with (because they're the ones 100% responsible for the outcome) and then those healthcare workers try to allow for what the patients want. There is barely enough room for the nurses/doctors, why would they let a non-essential personell with no medical training in? A photography would get in the way and compromise safety.
This could be purely hospital policy. During my C-section there were a number of staff in the operating theatre including two pediatric staff due to concerns with my baby. I doubt as if a photographer would have been permitted in due to this.