Nashville Birth Videographer + Photographer | How Birth Videography Can Help Heal From Birth Trauma
How Birth Videography Can Help Heal From Birth Trauma
Birth is one of the most powerful, life changing experiences a person can go through. But for many, it doesn’t unfold as expected. Birth trauma...whether physical, emotional, or both is more common than most people realize. It can leave new parents feeling overwhelmed, disconnected, or even robbed of the joyful moments they hoped for.
I have seen clients who simply had a birth go differently than they envisioned, nothing bad happened, they weren't transferred, it was just... different. Rewatching their film back showed them that the birth was far more peaceful than it felt at the time and it helped them rewrite the narrative that they had begun to tell themselves. Oftentimes, trauma can result more from the story we tell ourselves about the birth than the birth itself. It doesn't mean there wasn't trauma, but when we can rewrite that story or get clarity or reframe the story, it can make all of the difference in how we process our birth.
As a birth videographer, I’ve seen how documenting a birth can become more than just creating a keepsake...it can actually be a tool for healing.
Understanding Birth Trauma
Birth trauma looks different for everyone. For some, it may come from an emergency intervention, a long or difficult labor, or moments where they felt unheard. For others, it’s the emotional weight of plans changing in an instant. No matter the details, birth trauma can leave scars that linger far beyond the birth space.
While professional support from therapists, doulas, and supportive care providers is essential, having your birth documented on film can provide a unique path toward processing and healing.
How Birth Videography Helps in Healing
1. Reclaiming the Story
When a birth feels chaotic or traumatic, the memories can feel jumbled, incomplete, or clouded by stress. A birth film allows parents to revisit their experience with clarity. Seeing what actually happened...moments of strength, support, and resilience can help rewrite the narrative from one of fear to one of empowerment.
2. Noticing the Love You Missed
In the intensity of labor, it’s easy to miss the small but powerful gestures happening around you: a partner’s hand on your back, the way your birth team worked together, or the first cry that filled the room. A film captures those details so you can see them later, often revealing love and support you didn’t realize were there in the moment.
3. Affirming Strength and Courage
Trauma can make someone question their own strength. Watching your own birth story reminds you of the incredible endurance and courage you carried through...even when things didn’t go as planned. This reframing can be profoundly healing.
4. Creating a Bridge for Connection
Sometimes birth trauma makes it difficult to bond with your baby or partner afterward. Seeing your birth on film can help close that gap, highlighting the joy, connection, and beauty that existed even in the harder moments. It creates a tangible reminder that love was present all along.
5. Honoring and Processing the Experience
A birth film doesn’t erase trauma, but it creates space for reflection. Watching it, sometimes alongside a spouse or support person, can help parents process emotions, cry, grieve, and begin to heal with a fuller perspective.
Why Birth Films Are More Than Just Keepsakes
Birth videography isn’t just about capturing a baby’s first breath...it’s about honoring your journey. For families who experienced trauma, a film can be a mirror that reflects back strength, love, and resilience. It can remind you that even though things didn’t unfold perfectly, your story still matters and is worth remembering with tenderness.
If you’ve experienced birth trauma, you are not alone. And while healing is a process, having your story documented can be a powerful part of reclaiming it.
I love filming births and would love to chat about your birth!
The Birth of Beckham Ryan
I received Joy's call around 5 AM that it was time to head her way. She lives about 1 hour and 15 mins away from me. Im on the west side of Nashville and she lives east of nashville, so I had worried about traffic... but she went into labor at the most perfect time. No traffic at all. I drove during sunrise to meet her and her birth team at her home. This would be her 2nd home birth and 2nd newborn baby boy. Her country home is truly way out of town. Her beautiful farm house was so peaceful when I arrived, that I decided to include it in her birth film. The sun was coming up and the birds were chirping. It was such a peaceful morning - which ended up being a predictor of exactly how her birth atmosphere would be.Joy was laboring and her doula, Chelsey Fischer, was at her side when I arrived. Occasionally, her husband would swap places. Joy made little noise during this part of her laboring. She just has a quiet nature. You could feel the trust and knowing in the room. That things would be good and beautiful. The word I have used to describe Joy's birth has been PEACE. and I knew I had to find a song that really reflected that and helped you - the reader or viewer - feel that sense of peace we all felt in that room.Her midwives, Nova Birth Services, were there but giving her plenty of space to labor peacefully. They would check the baby's heart rate occasionally but mainly watched from a distance. I love midwives that just let birth do its thing. This was my first birth with Nova, and I really loved their vibe!During Joy's home birth, her older son was being fed and entertained by a sweet neighbor. But he did come into the room a few times and once to get a shower. I love capturing the entirety of the story. Capturing where he was during that time, him coming in to hug his momma between contractions. As well as him coming out of the shower. And then of course, we filmed him meeting his baby brother! He had the sweetest reaction.Joy began making some small noises and I knew something shifted. She delivered her new baby boy in just a few pushes and she had the most peaceful reaction to his birth. (I'm telling you - the word peace was there the entire time!)Afterwards, the midwives let her and baby just be for a while. Another beautiful part of home birth. They sat in the warm birth tub together and had their first nursing session while letting his cord pulse for a while. A first for me with this birth was the "floating placenta" where the placenta is placed in a little device and just floats in the tub with mom and baby.After some time, they cut the cord and daddy was able to hold Beckham for the first time. I love capturing this moment. He has been patiently watching and waiting and now he gets his moment of REALLY meeting his son for the first time! Such a magical moment.Then they transitioned Joy to the bed and she ate. They all hung out there for a while. And the midwives communicated that she could do that as long as she wanted. and then whenever she was ready, they would weigh baby and do the newborn exam. We all just kind of hung out together for a long time talking and laughing. I love home birth so much.If you are thinking about having your birth filmed and photographed, I would love to chat with you!
The Birth of Beckham Ryan | June 9, 2023 from Jennie Pyfferoen on Vimeo.
Nashville, Tennessee Birth Photographer + Videographer | Why is birth photography so important
WHY SHOULD YOU HIRE A BIRTH VIDEOGRAPHER + PHOTOGRAPHER...
...INSTEAD OF JUST HAVING YOUR PARTNER/MOM/DOULA/FRIEND-WITH-A-GOOD-CAMERA TAKE PICTURES FOR YOU?
A birth film is an amazing cinematic film telling the story of the day you gave birth. My goal is to tell THE WHOLE story. The story of who was there for you, how they supported you. How emotional your journey was bringing your baby into the world and how meeting your precious baby was a huge emotional experience.
Here are some of the reasons you should hire a birth videographer and photographer.
- To help you remember. The moments you are in labor and delivering your baby, make it impossible to be present AT your own birth. Many times, your eyes are close. You are focusing on getting through each contraction and pushing a baby out. So while, there is an amazing experience, you don't get to also have the bird's eye view of what happened. Even for Dad, depending on how delivery goes, he might want to remember as well.
Given that your birth experience is an intense journey, your memory will be lacking. Having a film to retell the story of your birth team and how they supported you as well as your bond with your husband and how impactful he was in your birth is such a treasure.
Being able to relive your baby's first cry and your first moments together. There is nothing more valuable.
For one, you cannot really comprehend the experience you are about to have. Its beyond anything you can ever prepare for.
You can't really grasp how important these moments...until AFTER baby is here .
As much as you believe your memory will not fade, it will. Between sleepless nights and nursing and diapers, the memories will fade as new seasons in your life come.
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Being able to revisit the most important seasons of your life, through video and photos, will be a cherished treasure.
Capturing the love that poured into your birth, how connected you were to your spouse. The first words spoken to your baby.
It's beyond words to have these captured on video.
Many mothers get these done in subsequent pregnancies. Why? Because they come to understand. They usually wish they had done a video and photos with their first baby.
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With modern technology, we are able to capture a lot on phones. But giving a husband or family member a phone to capture some video and photos, keeps them from experiencing the birth themselves.
They cannot be fully present for you.
It is also a lot of pressure to be responsible for capturing video of the birth, while simultaneously experiencing emotions themselves.
When you hire a birth photographer, you delegate the photos to a professional and let your partner do what they are best at, which is support you.
Wouldn't I be better off with a photographer who is also a doula?
This is a question I see often.
I fully believe in your ability to make that decision for yourself and fully respect it.
However, I have often wondered how anyone can do both effectively.
Especially with videography, I cannot possibly be in a deep focus on the story of your birth while managing to effectively support you through doula services.
In my professional opinion AND as a mother who had a doula.... I do not know how anyone can do both job simultaneously and truly show up in that role. Each one requires full focus and ability to adapt and be fully in that head space.
If one is doing both, they are not doing each job to the best of their ability.
I could go get trained as a doula, so I could offer it and compete. But at the end of the day, my #1 job is not being competitive. It's showing up for my client in the best way possible. I know my job is to tell your birth story and I know I need to be fully present in that role to do that WELL.
I work with so many second and third time moms who tell me that their number one regret from their first birth was that they didn’t hire a birth videographer + photographer. It’s normal to feel uncertain about the birth process when you haven’t gone through it, but one thing that seems consistent is that most moms say that their birth was one of the most powerful days of their life...and that it was also a blur.
There is so much happening physically and emotionally when you give birth, and there are so many little and big moments that you, your partner, and your children will want to look back on in the years to come. Much like your wedding day! As a professional birth photographer, I’m highly trained to read your non-verbal cues and to recognize the different stages of the birth process. My presence is often incredibly calming and reassuring to the families I work with. But most importantly, I provide my families with timeless images and sacred video of some of the best moments of their life.
If you are thinking about having a birth film done for your birth (with photos!), please reach out, I love doing a few births a year and would love to chat with you!
You can also learn more about Birth Videography and Photography here!
Below are some of my birth testomonials from past birth clients!
Franklin Birth Videographer + Photographer | Erin's Birth Story
The sun was shining so brightly. It was around lunch time, when my dear client, Erin, texted me it was time to head her way. A Baby would be born!I arrived at 12:30. The sun was coming into her bedroom, where baby would enter the world. It was a truly beautiful sight.The midwife and her nurse assistant were there, already tending to mom's needs. Haven Birth and Wellness is an amazing Home birth midwifery practice out of Franklin, Tennessee. About 10 years ago, Lauren (the lead midwife and starter of Haven) was my midwife at Vanderbilt when I had my son. She was so amazing. I hope someday to film a birth that she is the attending midwife at.Shortly after I arrived, Erin's doula, Dani, came. Dani (Motheringarrows on ig) brought such a peaceful presence with her. The environment was already pretty peaceful. But Dani was this quiet calm spirit. It was amazing observing her in her element. My favorite part was when she prayed over Erin during labor.The first part of Erin's birth journey had some emotions, fear and anxiety trying to take hold. I loved capturing her tears and her voice as she voices her fears and thoughts. In my opinion, this is just par for the course. Bringing a baby into the world is a place of vulnerability. It is my opinion that the best births come from women who are able to fully let go and embrace all of their vulnerability. So, working through the emotions is part of how we arrive at delivering the baby.Erin's husband was amazing. Between contractions, he would whisper to her. I don't have the audio in a way that actually gives us what was said. and, I kind of like that its a secret between the two of them. In the film, I will have that audio and that conversation - and we don't know what is said. But they do. and they will remember. It is truly such a beautiful moment between husband and wife.Erin's labor starts to intensify. You can sense her fear and then as she works through each contraction, you can sense her letting go and submitting fully. With Jesus and her birth team, Erin feels fully supported in her journey of bringing her baby boy into the world.Dani wrote in her instagram story the most beautiful perfect wording to describe this stage of birth for Erin (and many mothers). "The end. The part where you really come to the end of yourself. I told one of the midwives yesterday that there's a whole mindset in the birth world that 'you got this' ... and the reality is... you can't... NOT alone. God designs birth to break us...to break the complete end of ourselves. We find HIM in this place, if we choose to look up and fix our eyes. I think that's why I have always treasured birth, found it so utterly profound and beautiful. It's because as we lose ourselves, and find HIM and he swoops right in and holds us and helps us get our babies here."I hope Dani writes more about her introspection into the birth space. She has profound intelligence into the depth of birth.Erin was breathtaking and a warrior in her birth. That sweet baby came into the world, both shoulders simultaneously coming at brute force (poor Erin, but she did it!) all 8 lbs of this precious boy.Thank you for reading. If you want to inquire about birth videography and photography in the Nashville area, contact me here. P.S. Erin wore this beautiful night gown from free people in cream during her early labor and in navy after baby was born. 
Nashville Birth Videographer + Photographer | The birth of Faye Susan
The Birth of Faye Susan. Baby girl #2 for the Phamvan Family. Just a small warning, there is a lot of intimacy in this video.
Baby Faye arrived 2 days after her due date. Everyone patiently awaited her arrival with the anticipation of a home birth. Around Thanksgiving, it was discovered that Faye was breech. This caused some concerns but the birth team remained positive that baby would turn. A version was
scheduled for December 1st. Stresses were starting to rise. But a few days prior to the appointment, baby finally turned! The family could move forward with the planned home birth. We all rejoiced and went back to our patient waiting.
Erin (momma) has fast babies. There is always a concern that baby might come before myself or the midwife can arrive. But, thankfully, everyone arrived right around 8 cm. Great right? we have time? HA! Baby arrived within 15 minutes of my arrival! Momma was in the shower for 5 or
so of those minutes. I was working on my settings in between walking out of the bathroom to defog my lens. I was still working on getting my settings adjusted to the bedroom light when she says "I'm bearing down!" When baby is literally coming, you have to settle in on your camera
settings and just shoot and pray. Her scene was set for birth, with low light and lots of ambiance. Peaceful music and and warm calm environment for baby's arrival. That can make focusing and having a brighter film difficult, but thats the reality of filming in real life. Some birth
photographers and videographers will bring lights or a flash, but I feel thats too disruptive to the birth environment. I have labored naturally and environment is everything.
After Faye was born, I spent the next few hours filming and photographing their family together, as big sister came to meet Faye and as baby was weighed and measured. I love that they planned champagne together afterwards, it was such a perfect ending to this birth video.
Having your birth videoed and photographed is one of the most amazing decisions a mother can make. They forever keep that first moment as her baby was born, her first words she spoke when she saw her baby for the first time... That first cry. There is nothing else like it. I had my 2nd
birth filmed and photographed and it is the most precious gift. Memories quickly fade after birth and recalling the moments becomes harder and harder. I just wish I had my first son's birth also on video. Don't miss the opportunity! Reach out to me and let's talk about capturing your birth.
