Nashville Birth Photographer + Videographer | The Birth of Josiah Shepherd

On Sunday, May 21st, I had the honor of filming and photographing the most gorgeous nighttime birth.

Malary was slightly passed due - which is her normal - She had gone to her son's baseball games that afternoon and contracted all the way through. That evening, her husband called me that things were moving fast. Given it's her fifth boy, I thought it could go very fast. I headed out around 8 pm and slightly sped the whole way. Her midwives - The Sara's - Sarah Fuqua and Sara Rosser - were there and ready.

When we got there, Malary was her usual self between contractions. Grabbing her kids for one last photo and managing everyone ?

After a bit, things got more and more intense. Between her husband and assisting midwife, she was managing pain well. Sarah rolled some oils on her back and helped her rock her hips which seemed to help a lot with her contractions. She got into the tub!

From there, things were frustrating for Malary. Baby wasn't coming out as quickly as we would expect. She had a lot of pain and was really expressing her frustration. They moved her to the bed and she was pushing VERY hard. Baby had shoulder dystocia and was kind of stuck, but thanks to amazing midwives, baby came out well! It was a hard delivery for Malary, but everything turned out beautifully.

Her Homebirth team rallied around her and helped her get comfortable and nursing right away. We all commented on this baby and how big he was. Malary said "ha! Michael's mom said he would be 10 lbs" and I said "we might wanna weigh him first!"

Sure enough, he was TEN POUNDS! her biggest baby yet!!!

You just never know how birth will go, even if you have had many babies!

Her birth film is remaining private, but is the BEST one I have ever created.

Here are a few images Malary was okay sharing.

I would LOVE to capture your home birth! Let's connect! 

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Nashville Birth Photographer | Should I hire a photographer who doubles as a doula?

I gave birth to my 2nd son in 2012, and had a doula and a midwife at my birth at Vanderbilt hospital in Nashville, TN. I loved them both and could not imagine my birth without them. My doula, made a HUGE difference in my labor pains. In fact, when she left to go to the bathroom, I was so upset she wasn't working on my back because it made such a difference and I had a contraction while she was in there.I also had a filmmaker at my birth and have been obsessed with my birth film since. It is absolutely one of my most treasured possessions.There is no way I could have had one person fill these roles. Each one had their own very complex job that required a lot of brain work and I could not have gone through a contraction without my doula, and therefore, she also could not have been photographing and or videoing my birth for me.Years later, as I have stepped into the role of Birth Videographer and photographer, I have seen sweet well meaning people in the industry of birth, offer both as a package. I have explored this idea for myself and also what my opinion of it was. I have talked to mothers who have had doulas and I have spoken to many birth workers themselves and they all say the same thing... One person cannot do both jobs well. I have also heard from birth workers that they have witnessed these individuals in person and that they were not able to be there for the client as a birth support because they were too busy trying to capture their birth. I have a friend who is both a doula and a birth photographer, she said she offered the combo twice and that "it was terrible" and so she never offered the combination again. She made them hire her for one or the other and then hire another person.You, are the mother. This is YOUR birth. This is your choice. But because it is so important for the birth space and experience, I felt compelled to share my thoughts in a blog. I will never put the ability to book clients because I sold them a package deal to beat my competition or to make my brand look better, over the ability to provide the BEST footage of their birth. My clients come first, not my profits. But also, I do not know the intentions of these sweet meaning people and have no idea why they decided to offer both. My only assumption is to provide a package deal. But if the package deal does not serve the client, then it should not be offered.To learn more about Documenting Birth, click here.