Raleigh Birth Photography | The Birth Story of Micah

A Fast natural Birth Center Birth of a Surprise Baby Boy

At Baby Co. Birth Center

One of the most beautiful parts of birth photography for me is honestly the community. You see as a birth photographer we need other birth photographers, we can’t isolate ourselves completely and competitively. We have to go out and build relationships with the other women trying to create beautiful birth images and run a similar business as us. This takes a lot of trust for each of us and an amount of surrendering our own competitive spirits in order to allow someone else to help us. I’ve had the opportunity to share in the back-up bond of birth photography a hand full of times with a hand full of awesome photographers. I’ve been able to rely on them for peace of mine and in some rare occasions I’ve even gotten to support them by capturing the birth story for them.

This beautiful swift birth story was one of those! Amanda, of Birthpix Raleigh Birth Photography, needed me to come and capture the story of little Micah’s birth last Summer. I was completely honored to be there for Molly as she with power and grace brought her little boy earth side at Baby Co. birth center. Alongside her awesome supportive husband, Neil, Midwife, doula, and their little girl.

I got the text around 1am that waters had broken while she was asleep. This usually means we have a little time because contractions aren’t as active but I also knew from Amanda that this mom had a very fast first birth and to be wary of the “normal” patterns of birth. So honestly when I got that text, I immediately got in the shower and dressed just in case things picked up fast. About 20 minutes later, I think I was putting my pants on ,I got the text that they were headed into the birth center. We both were coming from Durham so about 30-40 minute drive and I knew I wanted to just get going so I jumped in the car and headed there. I ended up making it 10 minutes before they did!

Molly came in, in full active labor. She got straight into the tub and began to breath through her birth waves. She looked as if she was an olympic birther, with the ease and power she evoked with every contraction. Her little girl was in the moment and surrounding the tub as Molly just calmly breathed through, occasionally taking a moment to encourage her daughter. Soon after we arrived her awesome Doula, Anna of a Joyful Noise Doula Services, also joined in to offer her support. Neil, her husband, was like a saint balancing with so much joy their little girl while still being fully present with Molly. He even managed to get up her birth affirmation streamers just as they got into the space before settling into his role as birth partner. You could see their sweet love connection all throughout and even though labor was short, some of those affectionate moments still stand out to me. I love seeing partners truly in love with their wives affectionately throughout birth.

I’m blanking now, a full year later, but I swear it was no more than 30-40 minutes from the time they arrived to the moment sweet Micah was born, right into Molly’s hands in the tub with the guide of Laura from the edge of the tub. She had a perfectly seamless “look here is your baby” pushing stage and it was such a powerful thing to see. And while that’s rare it’s pretty incredible to watch women truly labor and birth as unassisted and in control as possible.

The room of course was just flooded with all the joy, oxytocin and new life sacredness. As Molly and Neil moved over to the bed, a sense of calm and just full completeness fell over everyone in the space. Big sister who had been back and forth on sleeping in the other room came back in to meet her precious baby brother and even tandem nurse within those first hours. It was pretty incredible to see them bond so early in Micah’s life earthside in this way. Molly continued to exude such beautiful raw emotion as she thanked the entire team surrounding her. She even wept thanking Laura, her midwife, and she fell into a beautiful state of rest as the fast paced energy of everything that had just occurred finally set in.