Tacoma Birth Photographer | Changes are happening! Both nationally and now locally! I have been seeing images and birth films of Family Centered Cesarean Deliveries or Gentle C-Sections, and I have been patiently waiting to see a change here in Tacoma. It wasn’t that long ago that I witnessed a nurse tell a mom, who was only minutes away from being escorted to the OR, that she would not be able to hold her baby in the OR. There simply wasn’t enough room and she would be able to hold and bond with her baby once she was moved to recovery (anywhere from 45 minutes to one hour after delivery). The nurse also told her that photographers were not only not allowed in the OR, but not allowed in recovery either. The soonest her birth photographer (me) would be able to photograph her precious new baby, would be when they were moved to a postpartum room. Not only was mom’s dreams of a vaginal delivery crushed, but now she would not be able to enjoy immediate skin to skin, let alone not even allowed to hold her baby after he was born. But also, birth photography, that she researched and invested in, wasn’t even a possibility. For her, she felt defeated. And as her birth photographer, I felt helpless.
I have been present for other Cesarean Birth Days where I was not allowed to go back into the OR. However, I was able to meet baby as soon as mom and baby came back to recovery. I had attended other C-Sections that followed suit of the one mentioned above. And then, the day I was waiting for, happened!
As soon as mom was brought into the Mom & Baby Room at Valley Medical Birth Center in Renton, Washington, the FIRST thing the nurse asked mom was… “Do you plan on doing skin to skin in the OR?” My jaw dropped to the floor. And then, she asked for my name and said that she would bring me my scrubs to change in to! Again, my jaw dropped on the floor!
I witnessed change, happening right before my eyes. The idea of a sterile birth day, is changing. The idea of mom and baby, bonding, breast feeding and being together, is becoming the new norm. Giving mom options in the OR is happening. And I am so happy to see this change!
PINIMAGECesarean Delivery at Valley Medical Birth Center, Renton Washington | Tacoma Birth Photographer KaetheJo Binder Photography
For momma’s who are looking at delivering by Cesarean, I urge you to research the hospitals in your local area, who are making changes for the better. I urge you to read about Family Friendly Cesareans, Gentle Cesareans, and so on. There are different names to this approach, but they all come down to one thing. They all give mom and baby The Golden Hour after birth. Giving them time to bond. To breastfeed. To be together, as they should be.
PINIMAGEGentle C-Section Skin to Skin after Delivery | The Golden Hour | Tacoma Birth Photographer KaetheJo Binder Photography
