Birth StoriesLabor and Birth

These Photos of Moms Holding Their Baby for the First Time will Take Your Breath Away

Women, don’t ever apologize for your behavior or choices during birth. When you OWN your experience and take pride in your journey, you help other women do the same thing. No matter how you did it, you just brought a human being into the world! The world should be kneeling at your feet.– Lauralyn Curtis

These babies may be taking their first breath, but they will absolutely take your breath away. Look at how radiant these moms are after traveling to the veil of life and death and coming back with their baby in arms.

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This morning at 10:13am, in the comfort of our home, I had the most redemptive experience of my life, second only to salvation, when every hope and prayer I ever had for birth was realized. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I just sat down to pee (required by the midwives) and as I opened the blinds to look outside I had tears streaming down my face for every answered prayer that I experienced during this birth. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ It’s a girl. ♥️ What my heart has longed for since I was pregnant with Alex. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ She weighed 7lbs 4oz – Alex was 8.12 and I just really wanted a tiny baby this time. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ We were able to have her at home – the only way I ever envisioned giving birth. HBAC ✔️ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ It may not have been snowing (I always wanted to deliver during a snowstorm) but there was a blanket of snow on our roof and the ground outside the window – after a practically snowless winter. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Things moved pretty quickly – 7 hours from first “gas pain” (🤣 if only I knew…) to her being in my arms. I was really praying against a long labor. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ @tiffanylfarley was there to document it all (and a lot of it is posted on my insta stories!) and experience it with me. She’s apparently my lucky labor charm because with both Alex and this baby (who still doesn’t have a name, haha) she arrived and I went into labor the next night. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Adam never passed out 🤣 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ It was super intense but 110% manageable, which is what I was praying for. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ So so so thankful. Jesus is so faithful. I am sitting here in bed with a perfect little lady in my arms, my two best friends by my side, my husband who was a champ, and my best little bud who already loves his little sister. So much to be thankful for. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Tiffany took this picture right after I saw that she was a girl. I teared up, laughed, and was just so so so happy. Truly, probably one of the happiest moments of my life because of everything that has brought me to this point. I could write a novel on here but I’ll stop now 😉 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Thanks to all who followed along and prayed for me. I felt those prayers. ♥️😘

A post shared by A L I C I A D A W – H O M E (@aliciaann_home) on

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February 13, 2019 ⠀ I woke up at 2am with pretty severe cramps. I thought maybe they were just Braxton Hicks. I had no idea that these “cramps” were actually contractions. 3am I hopped in the shower & ate a snack. At this point my “cramps” became even stronger, so I decided it was time to wake up @dankwilde. 4am & my contractions were now consistently three minutes apart & we determined we should head to the hospital. I labored in the tub with a purple popsicle, while my contractions were still manageable. My contractions started to become intense, so we moved to a yoga ball & I labored on that until my contractions become very intense, almost unbearable. At this point I transitioned to the hospital bed, where I was able to lean forward, allowing my weight to sink into the bed— each contraction now warranted the idea of an epidural & with the pressure of him moving his way down into my pelvis I became more & more open to medication. ⠀ But my sweet coach, my husband kept reminding me, “to just get through the next contraction.” Looking into his eyes, seeing the tender look of concern & support on his face is seriously what would get me through some of the most intense pain of my life. Our nurse also coached me to breath out every contraction, every inch of my pain. 8cm dilated at this point & my contractions were no joke. I was SO ready to meet our sweet boy. Still unmediated & the afternoon approaching—I was exhausted. Each hour seemed like the longest hour of my life.Then it was time. It was time to buckle up & bear down with each push. This was much harder than I expected & I remember thinking I wanted to quit & they were literally going to have to cut him out of me. Then my doctor said I either had 1 push left or 10 & it was up to me. This motivated me to push like crazy! So extremely painful, but I was ready to see & hold our little boy in my arms. With the next contraction I pushed & he WAS HERE! He came out super manning. Seriously, his arm came flying out of nowhere, with his hand balled into a strong fist. They laid him on my chest & we were overjoyed to finally have him in our arms after naturally laboring 12 hours. 📷 @sarahjchaput

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Full birth video link in my bio ❤️ In honor of Octavia turning one week old today, I wanted to share her birth video❤️ Sharing this is a little intimidating but that’s exactly why the movement to normalize birth is so important. (Please don’t watch if you aren’t comfortable with the raw and vulnerable parts of labor and birth.) Her labor was definitely the most challenging thing I’ve ever had to work through and I’m so grateful to have these clips to remember that day forever🌙 so thankful for all of the support I had and birth team @bundleborn 💕 . . . #homebirth #birthwithoutfear #birthisbeautiful #empoweredbirthproject #girlmom #veganmom #vegankids #plantbasedmom #vegan #naturalpregnancy #veganbaby #waterbirth #midwives #hippiemama #crunchymama #40weekspregnant #birthbecomesher

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WATER BIRTH ✨ two of the most common questions i've seen people asking are: 1) why did i bring the baby up so slowly ? 2) why didn't he come out crying ? in this clip, you can see that baby does indeed cry. very little. and not long. but i wanted to explain water birth a little more for those who may not have been informed. to begin with, the main purpose of water birth is to give the baby a more gentle transition into a new environment. water babies go from water to water before they go from water to air. interestingly enough, a baby can spend 3-4 minutes after crowning with its head emerged in the water before it's whole body comes out next contraction. meanwhile, baby is still receiving oxygen from the umbilical cord. bringing the baby up slowly to the surface is what allows for a more gentle transition. once the baby's skin is exposed to the CO2 in the air, is when signals are sent to the brain that baby is in a new environment and needs to open up its larynx to breathe. when a baby goes from water to water and then from water to air TOO fast, the pressure from the air can be a bit harsh on a baby's body, contradicting the purpose of a gentle birth. so that explains why i brought my baby up so slowly to the surface. and, no, nothing is wrong if a baby doesn't cry immediately. especially when you notice how much tone he has in his body. if you were born this way, you wouldn't have much to cry about either 😊 — supported by my beautiful midwife: @barefootmidwife — #gentlebirth #waterbirth #naturalbirth #homebirth #midwifery #birthwithoutfear #birthofamama #tribedemama #empoweredbirthproject #homesweethomebirth #evidencebasedbirth #ebbirth #trusttheprocess #blacklove #blacklovepage #blackmomsblog

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Credit: @laboroflovedoulas Flashback to that time baby decided the hospital parking lot was a perfectly fine place to be born. This was an amazing birth! ✨ Doula/📸: @liliquoimoon / @laboroflovedoulas • When you made it to the hospital- but not really! This baby girl decided she would waste no time. Luckily, I was able to call ahead and alert the midwives that this mom was “coming in hot!” Midwife and hospital staff were outside ready to catch this little bundle as mom was already crowning when they arrived at the parking lot! Doula/📸: @liliquoimoon #loldoulas Midwife: @alyssadiane10 • #LoLDoulas #childbirth #pregnancy #doula #labordoula #birthphotography #carbirth #flyingbabies #birth #momsofinstagram #naturalbirth #vbac #midwife #waterbirth #naturalbirthatlanta #childbirthclass #laborofloveatlanta #oxytocin #baby #newborn #motherhood

See also

A post shared by Delandra Vinson (@liliquoimoon) on

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The feelings and emotions I have looking at these photos is indescribable.😭 I didn’t do “birth photography” with the boys and from over the years of shooting birth sessions myself, I knew we had to do it. I knew I would regret it if we didn’t. My friend Amber with @25mockingbirdphotography outdid herself and I just cry every time I look over all of these.😱❤️ I’ll be posting our full “birth story” over on my Facebook page soon but here are a few of my favorites to show my instagram fam! We are so INLOVE with our little Laylee.💗 #birthphotography #birthsession #birthphotos #realemotions #deliveryphotos #deliverypictures #obsessed #ourbabygirl #girlmom #birthphotogs

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There are no words I can add to these beautiful moments. They are sacred, whole, complete on their own.

Thank you mamas sharing with us the miracle of life coming to the world. You are mother, creator and sustainor of life.

Suzzie Vehrs

*all photos shared with permission*

Moms holding newborns for the first time
Photos of moms holding their baby for the first time