SNAPPY BIRTHDAY WEDNESDAY
While Instagram are facing calls in the US to allow graphic pics from the labour room, Scots are still more reserved about this kind of photography
NO ONE looks their best after having a baby. Following hours, sometimes days, of sweating, pushing, panting and swearing, most new mums are a big messy bag of hormonal exhilaration.
Which is why the latest American trend – documentary photographs taken in the labour room – is a bit of a surprise.
In an Instagram-filtered world, where every picture is edited and improved until it looks like a cartoon, these slimy infants and howling mums are something very different.
If you’re wondering why you have not seen any of these on social media, it’s because Instagram ban graphic images of women in labour.
But there’s a Change.org petition, run by American midwife Katie Vigos of the Empowered Birth Project campaign, appealing for the photography platform to change their policy. It’s attracted more than 21,000 signatures so far.
And while it’s yet to make an impact in Scotland, there are two professional photographers here who offer the service. One of them is Karolina Antanaviciute, whose main job is shooting pregnant women, then their new babies.
She explained: “Birth photography seemed a very natural next step. There was not anybody else doing this in Scotland.”
But she hasn’t been overwhelmed with requests for her service. She said: “In the US, it’s as popular as having a wedding photographer. You’re having a baby, you hire a birth photographer.
“Here, it’s not so well known but it’s coming. In London, demand is picking up. More and more people want that special moment captured.”
So far, Karolina has shot one birth. It involved an American couple who were living in Scotland and were much more familiar with the idea of recording their child’s arrival in the world.
She said that job was “the best thing I’ve ever done”.
Unlike some of the images Katie shares on social media, Karolina’s shots do not centre around the business end of the birth. She said: “My job is not to stand at the back of the labour room and take pictures of the woman’s crotch. It’s about the connection, the personal moments. It’s not all medical with the focus on the yucky parts.” Birth photography is not a job for just anyone with a tripod and a fancy camera. Karolina said: “Not all photographers can be birth photographers. You need to have a really good knowledge of the process of birth. Things can happen at any moment. “You are not there as a medical professional – it’s not your role to have an input – but
you have to know what to expect in every situation. That is going to make you less intrusive." She spends time getting to know the parents in the weeks running up to the birth. They establish what is on and off limits. Everyone involved has to get on well before it can go ahead - and this is not a given. Karolina is nine months pregnant and has not been able to find a professional photographer to record her own birth. Instead, she is planning to set up her camera in her bedroom - it's a home birth -and operate it by remote control. But don't expect to find those pictures all over social media. Karolina thinks that many of the couples who hire birth photographers don't want the pictures in the public domain, because "they're too personal". For her, that choice should be down to the person, not the moderators of any given website. She said: “These images should be shared if the person is comfortable with that.
“All social media is full of naked, inappropriate photography. The birth of a baby is something so innocent and beautiful.
“A newborn on a mum’s chest, with a bit of nipple showing, I don’t see anything wrong with that.
“And everyone can choose who they follow on social media. Anyone who’s offended can block that page.”
Being a birth photographer means Karolina is ready to have her baby with a clear idea of what to expect.
She said: “Most of the images we see of birth portray a horrible experience. TV shows such as One Born Every Minute concentrate on the drama and the blood. It’s all very negative.
“My job has made me so much more confident. I’m addicted to positive birth videos – not the hospitalised, medicalised, over-dramatised births that freak society out.
“Through my photography, I focus more on how amazing birth is.
“Obviously things can go different ways. It’s unpredictable – but it’s one of the most important days of your life.”
And in a world where we share our every meal and our every thought, why would we not want to have a record of this big day?
Karolina stressed: “I don’t know anyone who regrets having a picture taken straight after they have given birth. They regret it if they don’t.
“It’s lovely to have a picture of your adorable baby all wrapped up and snug but this is something different – it’s a photo of you meeting your child for the first time.
“Nothing can replicate that. You can come into the studio a few days later but you can’t recreate the emotion you felt when you saw your baby for the first time.”