BIRTH PHOTOS ‘ALL ABOUT EMOTION OF A NEW FAMILY BEING CREATED’
APHOTOGRAPHER has captured the emotional moment a couple welcomed their son into the world in a beautiful collection of birthing photographs.
Jodie and Daniel WestmacottJames, from Caerleon, Newport, welcomed their son Oscar into the world last Thursday.
Born at the Royal Gwent Hospital weighing 8Ibs 15oz, Oscar’s arrival was captured in a series of intimate photographs and video clips by photographer Sarah Debnam.
A mother-of-two herself, Sarah wanted to promote the positive side to giving birth.
Sarah, from Newport, said: “I started by doing newborn photography, but I had always wanted to capture a birth. That’s when I was contacted by Jodie, who said she’d love to take part in something similar.
“I had two traumatic births but I was keen to promote how positive giving birth can be. I’ve heard so many horror stories, so I wanted to show the other side of things.
“I carried out a lot of research beforehand and I wanted to make the experience as unintrusive and relaxed as possible.”
Sarah met with expectant parents Jodie and Daniel weeks before the birth, and the three became friends.
“I wanted to make sure they felt comfortable with me,” Sarah said.
“From around 38 weeks, well you could say I was ‘ on-call’, waiting to rush out the door as soon as I heard Jodie was in labour. “I was on edge and ready to go.” Sarah finally received the call last Thursday, as Jodie – who had been having contractions for around two days prior to that – was ready to make a trip to the hospital.
“Luckily my children were in school and I had a bag packed ready,” Sarah said.
“Jodie and Dan only live around the corner from me, so they picked me up on the way and we had a chat on the way to the hospital.
“Jodie was an absolute star. She wasn’t at all panicked. Her husband and the midwives were a great support. She was the most chilled out person all the way throughg it.” Sarah, Jodie and Daniel arrived at the Royal Gwent Hospital by around 11am. “Jodie spent a couple of hours walking around, sitting in the birthing pool and eating toast and tea. “It was a huge honour to capture the birth. I can’t thank them enough for allowing and trusting me to share this experience with them. “I tried to take it as seriously as possible – not interfering too much or getting in the way of intim mate moments. I tried to stay back in the moments after Oscar was b born, to give the couple some private space. “But, in the went perfectly. “It was a very personal thing to watch. There’s no way to describe w watching another human being brought into the world. It was very emotional and I couldn’t end, everything help but get a tear in my eye. It’s almost life altering.
“Jodie and Dan cried when they looked at the pictures – they absolutely loved them.
“Obviously looking at the birth as an observer I saw a lot more than they did, so it was nice that they were able to see it from a different perspective in the pictures.”
Sarah posted a video of the experience to her Facebook page, and the clip has had more than 4,000 views.
“I was expecting it to be quite negative at first. A lot of the time, what people think birthing photographs are going to look like and what they actually look like are two very different things.
“They aren’t gruesome – it’s all about the emotion of a new family being created, and that’s what I wanted to capture.
“Everyone has been so supportive and wonderful.”
Jodie – also mother to son Theodore – said she was made to feel “calm” throughout the whole experience.
“The labour went on for two days, so we were all a bit on edge and had our bags packed ready to go,” she said.
“When we got to the hospital, there was no sign of Oscar so I spent most of the day walking up and down the stairs – which came as a bit of a shock to my husband. He’s not a walker.
“A lot went wrong with my first birth, but with Oscar it was textbook. It was quite a calm experience.
“Sarah was also very helpful – she kept a log of my contractions. I was in a lot of pain so I didn’t really notice much of what was going on, but she was great.”
Sarah is now planning on offering the birthing package as a full time service. To find out more, visit sarah debnam.co.uk