Top 10 Birth Trends in 2020 | jacksonville Birth Photography
I have no sappy words to say about 2020. But what I will say is this: for as challenging as it was, and for as much heartache as we all went through, 2020 is the year that all of my clients welcomed their children into the world. They faced everything that the rest of the us did AND experienced their hardest and most triumphant moments. 2020 will always be special to these families.
In my fifth year as a professional birth photographer, I saw several trends emerge from my clients. Maybe I was searching for consistency in a constantly-changing time, or maybe I was just paying closer attention, as I gave more to my clients this year. But here are ten things that I noticed about the births I photographed this year in Jacksonville.
10. first-time home birthers
In 2020, I worked with several families who chose home birth for the first time, when their previous children had been born in a hospital. Some were concerned about COVID in hospitals, others were simply ready to take their births into their own hands. For me, home birth kept my business afloat and filled my heart with joy over and over again.
9. Fast births
2020 had plenty of FAST births! At least a third of them were under 6 hours from start to finish. The fastest was just under 3 hours! Good communication with my clients and knowing their birth history helped me to make every single one in time!
8. Big emotions
The relief of finally holding your child in your arms, after all of the uncertainty and fear of this year, led to so many beautiful, emotional moments. There was a strong sense of gratitude at each and every birth I attended this year.
7. Placentas
Okay, well, technically there is a placenta at every birth I’ve ever photographed ever, BUT! This was the year that I really looked for the beauty in this life-giving organ and found ways to photograph it artistically. This image won me eighth place in the Documentary Family Awards, which was such an honor!
6. Incredible partners
2020 families had to be extra strong for one another. I saw partners lift each other up and wrap their loved ones in support over and over again.
5. Siblings at births
This year I attended home births with TWENTY SEVEN older siblings present!!! Granted…most of them were asleep for the moment of birth! But I had the joy of watching so many siblings woken up to the cries and laughter of their parents, and sleepily greeting their new baby brother or sister. (I’ll also note that I had three FIFTH time moms this year! So their 12 older children made up almost half of that total!)
4. Strong moms
2020 is the year we saw how tough moms can be. And how they can rise to any occasion with grit and grace. This mom birthed her baby and caught him all by herself, while her husband was away on deployment and her midwives were rushing across town, just a few minutes away at the moment of birth.
3. Doula support
2020 forced me (in the best way) to finally embrace something my heart had been longing for for so long…offering doula support. I trained as a doula in 2017, but COVID hospital restrictions gave me the push that I needed to get certified and to support my clients in a new way. Giving physical, emotional, and educational support along with beautiful images filled me up (and challenged me!) in a new way, and for that, I’m so grateful.
2. Changed plans
2020 was a year of changing plans. My heart broke when I was unable to attend some hospital births, but I worked with my clients to send them in with a camera and a GoPro, and edit their images for them. Several home birth clients had to transfer to the hospital and I was unable to follow. But every single family who faced an unforeseen change went with the flow, dug deep, and found the strength to bring their children into the world in the way that they needed to come.
1. Repeat clients
A very wise mentor of mine, Monet from Birth Becomes You, told me in my second year of birth photography that before long, my schedule would fill up with repeat clients, and what a joy that would be. In 2020, that finally happened! I had the privilege of photographing seven repeat clients this year and it was so much fun to see these families grow before my eyes!