On Sunday 19th December 2010 at 3.30am I got the phone call I’d been waiting months for. My friend’s baby was finally on the way, three days past his due date, so I dashed out of bed and made my way across Johannesburg in time to photograph his arrival. I have no first hand experience of natural birth, my daughter was born by elected cesarean, so I was excited and also slightly apprehensive about the prospect of watching Toni’s baby being born. I arrived at 4am to be greeted by Toni sitting on a fit ball, calmly breathing through the clearly uncomfortable contractions, her husband was with her along with a midwife and doula in a very nice room at the Genesis Clinic. Toni attended hypno-birthing classes during her pregnancy that teach breathing and relaxation techniques for labour and birth as well as tackling the fear aspect, the effectiveness of these was clearly evident in the fact that she didn’t make a sound until she started to push the baby out and she didn’t once request any pain relief!! Quite clearly at odds with the image of labour and birth portrayed in the press.
Baby Alasdair was born at 8.31am as a perfect little 2.9kg bundle, he was at an oblique angle so took a little longer to emerge than he might otherwise have done had he been lined up correctly. It was wonderful to be able to document such a special event for Toni and Mark, not just the labour and birth, but also to be able to photograph the first few moments of their son’s life so that they have a permanent record to remember the event by. The only part of the experience I found difficult was watching one of my best friends in pain, albeit pain that was over and done with pretty quickly. Toni was rather blase about the whole thing and when I spoke to her three days later she assured me that it was fine and she’d happily do it again because it was such a positive experience for her. It was a privilege to be able to be in the room when baby Alasdair arrived and also to see how happy Toni and Mark were when they saw the photographs a week later, my thanks to them both.
For more information about Hypno-Birthing please click on this link: www.hypnobirthing.com
For more information about the Genesis Clinic please click on this link: www.genesisclinic.co.za
I was rather apprehensive when Em first suggested birth photographs, I mean having someone else there in a potentially less-than-dignified situation…with a camera?! However I’m so glad I said yes! Although Em and I chatted a bit in the beginning when the active phase of labour started and I needed to concentrate I wasn’t even aware that she was in the room. Alasdair’s birth was so many things: calm, exciting, empowering and hard work requiring real focus and perseverance…and I feel that Em’s pictures really captured that. Em won’t need to ask me again second time round!