Student Midwifery: Phase 1

To my amazing birth clients: thank you for the honor of inviting me to join your birth team. Being in the room with you as you welcomed your sweet little ones into the world has been an incredible experience. Coming to visit after c-sections and getting to take some Fresh 48 photos has been just as special.

Some of you know that I took a birth worker class with Utah Birth Suites last fall. That course taught us a lot of great skills that allow us to be an extra set of hands for your midwife. I’ve assisted at a few births since then, and it has been a beautiful experience each time.

At the same time, I was also leaning into photography, upgrading my used budget lenses for better lenses that perform better, and pushing myself to learn new skills and start a photography business. All the photographers who share advice online have one common bit of advice for photographers looking to start a business: choose your specialty, and commit to pursuing it! This is often followed by advice like, “just go take those photos, get the practice, get better, and keep doing it over and over until you’re good at it!” Which is solid advice for many types of photography, but not applicable for birth photography. So the idea of pursuing birth photography intimidated me for about two years straight. I did portrait work for friends here and there, plus occasionally got out for some landscape and aurora photography when conditions were great for it, and photographed back yard weddings for some loved ones - and while I do enjoy those photo shoots, it wasn’t what I’m passionate about. I’m passionate about birth, and supporting women through transformational experiences. And I’m hoping to explore midwifery, too.

Which means it’s time to start filling out some paperwork. And for those of you that I was able to be in the room as your baby was delivered, I may be reaching out soon to ask you to initial my Phase 1 paperwork.

Thank you for helping me to achieve this goal! I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to complete Phase 1 this year. I may be taking some additional free or discounted clients soon, since some of the 10 respondents to my model call didn’t end up calling me when they went into labor. :)

Stay tuned, and follow me over at @etherealbirthphoto on Instagram to be the first to know when spots open up in my schedule.