Even in the midst of a global pandemic, with new restrictions on how and where I could do my job, 2020 was my busiest year yet as a birth photographer. I was able to capture so many beautiful, transformative moments of connection, endurance, vulnerability, strength, and love as each family welcomed a new baby into their lives. And I found myself learning how to let go of parts of my own creative process and lean on others to make it possible to tell my clients’ stories in the face of circumstances beyond anyone’s control.
I had clients whose birth plans changed drastically, and so many who showed such incredible grace and flexibility as we worked together to navigate my access to their birth space. Some who switched to a homebirth just weeks before their due date, and many who had already planned on one but found that homebirth was an even safer option for them than they originally thought, given what would have awaited them in a hospital setting during a pandemic. Some who ended up in a hospital setting despite plans to birth at home. Still others who birthed in a hospital or birth center or even at home without their full intended birth team. No matter the choices made or circumstances they found themselves in, each family’s story had beauty and love at the center of it.
Despite the isolation and lack of physical support that was available over the last many months, new life reminded us all of the enduring bonds of family, the importance of connection, and the beauty that exists in the stories we live and the stories we share.
The following photos are not at all a comprehensive list — they really just scratch the surface of the everyday magic that I got to witness and document over the past 12 months. There are so many more photos from this year that each tell their own powerful story (more blog posts to come!). Additionally, many of my clients choose complete privacy and are not represented here, but their stories are no less beautiful. What follows, in no particular order, is just a handful of my personal favorites from what I’ve been given permission to share from this strange year.
Life in 2020 was unlike anything we’ve ever experienced. But birth in 2020, in many ways, was the ordinary miracle it always is.
