20 Stunningly Intimate Birth, Postpartum And Maternity Photos

“We believe that these images are worth seeing and celebrating.”

Birth photographers capture deeply emotional and personal moments for parents.

To celebrate this work, Birth Becomes Her, a birth photography blog and community, held a contest featuring real images focusing on aspects of early motherhood. The prompt invited photographers around the world to submit images they took in 2017 for the categories of labor, birth, postpartum, breastfeeding and maternity.

A panel of judges selected three winners in each category and an overall winner out of a pool of nearly 1,000 submissions. More than 20,000 Birth Becomes Her followers voted for the people’s choice award winners.

“We believe that these images are worth seeing and celebrating,”contest organizers wrote on the site, where they announced the winners on Feb. 13. “We believe that motherhood and the female body should not be censored.”

Here are 20 stunningly intimate photos of pregnancy, birth and postpartum experiences. To see all of the submissions, visit Birth Becomes Her.

(Note: Some of these photos might not be considered suitable for viewing in all situations.)

Overall Winner
“Stunning Siblings First Encounter”
Lochristi, Belgium
Labor -- First Place
“Nowhere and Everywhere”
Santa Monica and West Los Angeles, California
Labor -- Second Place
“Labor by Candlelight”
Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada
Labor -- Third Place
“Before the Cut”
Kampala, Uganda
Labor -- People's Choice
“Three Souls Labor As One"
Spokane, Washington
Birth -- First Place
“Half Born and Already Reaching for Mama”
Brisbane, Australia
Birth -- Second Place
“Fist Bump for Mom”
Columbus, Georgia
Birth -- Third Place
“Caught in Between Worlds”
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Birth -- People's Choice
“Transition to Earth”
Ghent, Belgium
Postpartum -- First Place
“This is VBAC”
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Postpartum -- Second Place
“Rebirth”
Melbourne, Australia
Postpartum -- Third Place
“Postpartum Uncensored”
Austin, Texas
Postpartum -- People's Choice
“Success”
Uruguay
Breastfeeding -- First Place
“Within Reach”
Treasure Coast, Florida
Breastfeeding -- Second Place
“Tranquility”
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Breastfeeding -- Third Place
“Stir Fry”
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Breastfeeding -- People's Choice
“A Hush Fell Over The Crowd”
Rochester, New York
Maternity -- First Place
“This is what a Goddess Looks Like”
Greenville, South Carolina
Maternity -- Second Place
“Staying Afloat”
Orlando, Florida
Third Place -- Maternity
“A Mother’s Love”
San Antonio, Texas

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