‘To be there when it all unfolds is a real honour’
CHILDBIRTH is often seen as raw, bloody and brutal.
But for Jo Robertson, from Porthcawl, it is far more than that.
It’s an experience that is beautiful and serene but one which is simply a hazy memory once baby is safely delivered.
Jo has set up Lillian Craze Photography, which specialises solely in birth photography – so she is in the delivery room with the mum-to-be from the moment labour starts right through to the post-labour joy and happiness of a newborn baby.
For her, taking pictures of the very intimate event are not about the blood and gore. It’s about capturing the raw emotions and the drama that unfolds when a baby is born.
It’s about catching the look on mum’s face as she pushes her baby out, about picturing the moment dad first sets eyes on his child, it’s about candidly telling the story of childbirth that a couple can cherish.
Jo, a mum-of-two, who set up her business, last year, said: “I absolutely love my job. To watch the amazement of a woman giving birth, to be there when it all unfolds, is both a pleasure but a real honour too.
“Childbirth can provide such hazy memories for a woman and her birth partner and my pictures are a way of cataloguing a wonderful event.
“I obviously know that it is a very special moment in their lives and I respect that. I stay in the background, always watching, clicking away but never intrude.
“To be a witness to something so beautiful is a real honour and I hope I can provide people with photographs that can be kept and looked at for future generations.
“I’m so grateful to the women, the husbands and partners who have allowed me into their birth space to record their birth story truthfully and artistically. They’ve trusted me with my camera and with their very private special experience.”
She believes that a birth should be just as important to document with pictures as your wedding day.
“All births are different. You could have two children but have had two completely different experiences and it’s often hard to remember a lot of it. And that’s why I’m there, to help capture those moments and document them forever.”