21 Incredibly Moving Photos That Capture The Beauty Of C-Section Births

What do Caesarean births really look like? These stunning images from members of the International Association of Professional Birth Photographers (IAPBP) show just that.

The association has over 1,400 members in 37 different countries, and was founded in 2010 by Lyndsay Stradtner of Life in Motion Photography, who lives in Texas with her husband and four children. After the family lost many of their belongings in Hurricane Katrina, Stradtner started taking photographs using a DSLR camera to make sure their precious memories were captured. She started photographing births in 2007, and founded the IAPBP to make it easier for clients and photographers to connect. In a blog post on the IAPBP website, Stradtner explained how birth photography is often misunderstood. Pushing back against commonly-held ideas that birth photography is “gross,” “yucky,” or “distasteful,” she explained why some families choose to hire a birth photographer, and what the end result is all about.

“There is much more to birth photography than the actual moment of birth,” she wrote. “So much more. It’s the birth environment, the light in the room, the details, the comings and goings of those who are there. It’s mom holding on to dad in pain, the doula offering a supportive hand, the midwife making suggestions for pain relief and the OB preparing and helping mom push. It’s the baby placed on moms chest for the first time, the tears of joy, pure adrenaline, the cutting of the cord and babies little toes and fingers. It’s the first time a sibling meets a new baby brother or sister with a look of wonder and apprehension. It’s all of those things put together. It’s the journey of a birth day. It’s the making of a family. It’s special. And if a family chooses so, it deserves to be captured.”

SELF was able to reach out to the IAPBP community, asking them to submit some of their most moving images. The results were truly spectacular, capturing an incredible range of birth experiences. And many of the photographs submitted showed children being delivered by Caesarean births.

According to the CDC, an estimated 32.2 percent of women will deliver by a planned or unplanned Caesarean. This number is higher than the World Health Organization’s recommended rate for “medically necessary” c-sections, which is 10 to 15 percent. There is some controversy around the high rate of surgical births in the U.S., with some expectant mothers feeling pressured into the procedure by medical personnel, or others judging women who choose to have elective Caesarean births. But the fact remains that these surgeries are live-saving, and women should not be shamed for having them.

As these photos show, Caesarean births are absolutely powerful, moving experiences, whether or not the procedure was the mother’s first choice. Here are 21 of the Caesarian births the talented IAPBP photographers captured.