A First Time Home Birth Story with Midwife Shannon Stellhorn
The Birth Story of Katriel
After being there to capture the moment they welcomed Mom’s second baby into the world, I was beyond ecstatic to find out that they were expecting their next baby. After delivering her first two in a hospital setting, Mom was hoping to have this next babe in the comfort of her home and quickly put together her birth team which included Midwife Shannon Stellhorn, Doula Kathleen Wilson and Student Midwife Rowan Twosisters.
Mom fell in love with the new offerings of birth films and knew that she wanted to capture her birth through movement of videos. Concerned about missing moments of still images at the moment of birth, she asked me to bring in a second shooter so that I could focus on film and she could focus on images. I asked my friend and back-up birth photographer Kelly Richman with Lifetime of Clicks Photography to join me. I had developed a close relationship with Kelly and was excited to be able to work with her side-by-side.
As we neared the end of her pregnancy, the decision was made to encourage her labor. With it being a third baby, you never know if things will move quicker than the last, or even slower. This baby turned into a Wild Card and definitely made Mom work towards bringing her earthside. Worried that things would move fast, I decided to join the birth team and sleep in a guest room, waking to capture moments of labor and resting when they needed privacy. As I slept, her doula would often come lay with me and update me on how labor was progressing. By morning, I woke to the tell-tale sounds of active labor and decided to call Kelly to join me.
Kelly and I moved and weaved our way through capturing the end of her labor as we watched Mom work to bring her baby out. As she pushed her head out, Shannon realized that her shoulders were lodged under her pelvis. They quickly moved Mom into a runner’s position and Dad helped guide baby out. As they passed Baby Katriel through Mom’s legs and into her arms, her emotions set in as she cried with joy.
Make sure you get watch their birth film for all the feels!
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A beautiful home birth film with midwives and family surrounding.