Natalie Broders Photography

Aaah!! Thank you! So honored to have won best documentary in the Labor category 😍

✨Who I am as a birth worker✨

😆I have a dry, sarcastic sense of humor
🤬I use swear words on the regular
📚Informed choice is important to me, expect lots of information sharing
⌛I want us to spend time together, connecting and listening

♥️ You are important to me. I dedicate a my time to learning who you are and what you want for your birth.

The one where we stayed at the birth center anyway,

We decided to continue spinning babies with side-lying release and a forward-leaning inversion. After some time the birth team checked the baby's heart rate and while earlier it sounded OP it now was sounding LOA.

BABY had turned!

Soon after this, she started grunting and squatting down while being held up by her awesome partner. With this change in position, things were definitely intensifying and she had a lot more bloody show with meconium still present but it was obviously lighter than before so after discussing this mama decided to continue to wait. Hoping to avoid a transfer.

We started filling up the tub to give her some relief. And within only 10-15 minutes in the water, baby was born! He came out tangled up in his cord and her very skilled midwife carefully unwound him. Once he was on Mama’s chest he started to lose tone so to help support him they gave him a few puffs of air with the mask and he started crying out for Mama.

It was a powerful story of trusting your intuition and honestly the power of fetal positioning, spinning babies, and curating a birth team with the skills to mitigate unforeseen obstacles.

Birth Team

The one where we stayed at the birth center anyway,

I got the excited call 5 days before their due date that her waters had broken but contractions hadn’t started yet. I told her to rest and to reconnect with me soon. By 9 am contractions were close together but short and all in her back. I immediately thought baby could be OP (posterior or sunny-side-up). I sent her over some positions to try (spinning babies) and encouraged her to call their midwife. After their call with the Midwife, they decided it would be wise to go to the birth center where they planned to give birth.

I had a long drive out to the birth center but followed behind arriving only a couple hours later. When I got there mama and the midwives were discussing a transfer due to some meconium being present. I sat with Mama and we discussed waiting longer to try and see if some new positioning could help support both baby and mama in the comfort of the birth center.

Birth Team

The one where they home birthed in a cozy studio apartment surrounded by calm energy and crying happy tears
Part Two
As she navigated the growing contractions she had the close support of her partner who wanted to be fully involved. I supported her both physically and with words of affirmation. We shared an understanding of the ancestral knowledge passed down through generations women. And connected all through her steady, growing labor.
While her labor took its time, it was all going smoothly and exactly as it should. When pushing came it required a lot of energy and strength to get baby out. This mama fought with power and the room was filled with utter emotion when baby was finally in her arms.
We were together about 12 hours that day and it left such a profound impact on my heart to witness and support their journey.

The one where they home birthed in a cozy studio apartment surrounded by calm energy and crying happy tears
Part One
I’ll never forget the moment I arrived at this beautiful birth. I walked into their bedroom where Dad had been coaching her through every contraction (Bradley method) while spooning in bed and holding her belly
.
As I walked in Dad saw me and knew at that moment help had arrived to support him too, he asked me to take his place and it felt very deeply personal and special.
The setting of their birth was incredibly intimate, filled with love and connection. Imagine having a cozy atmosphere with candles, warm lights, a birthtub, at night, and with a small crew of women surrounding her. Each one believing in her power!

The one where she labored all through the night…
This was their first home birth but 3rd birth experience. So many things new and many things familiar. Labor started one evening and they let me know by text that contractions were about 8 minutes apart. Their midwife was on the way to check but I decided to hold off and let them progress a bit more. I took a shower and made sure to eat before I headed their way arriving around 9:15 pm.
When I got there I could tell it was still early. Mama handled each contraction so beautifully with just a brow furrow so I knew we had some time. I encouraged them both to get some sleep around midnight, and the rest of the birth team took naps around the house on couches. We all were resting for the labor to come.
By 3:30 am things had picked up. Her partner woke me up because he knew that Mama needed me. I stayed with her verbally and physically the whole time as her doula and support. She was feeling nauseous so we made sure to keep her hydrated and nourished throughout. There were moments she felt like she couldn’t do it anymore crying, “I just want it to be over” Which let her birth team know it would be soon!
She labored in water for a while but when the time actually came, baby decided on a land birth. She only had to give two pushes before baby was born right on the bed. It was such a huge relief once baby was born and the room was filled with such beautiful support and celebration!
Midwives

My goals for 2024…

Sometimes it feels scary to put goals into words. Because I always want the year to take shape however it needs to be and for my goals and dreams to be adaptable. But I want to bravely share a few with you today just so I can return here next year and acknowledge my journey with joy and growth!

So here are some of my goals…

Mentor a very special birth photographer and doula with the goal of working together on births in 2024

Continue working on my health, hormone balance, reversing PCOS, and work on getting strong!

Focus on being present with my two amazing children and my husband, carving out special screen-free time after school together

#2024

Welcome to the New Year! 🎉

There is something incredibly powerful about January 1—a moment to reflect on the year we've just finished and yet feel empowered to embark on new journeys ahead.

This week, I want to share with you some of the goals I had for 2023 and the goals I'm crafting for 2024. Additionally, I'll be sharing my all-time favorite images from 2023—a little time capsule encapsulating all the stories I've had the privilege to document and the families I've been fortunate to support!

The one where she birthed her baby right into her own hands…

This was their second birth at so when they arrived everything felt comfortable and real. I was there as just their photographer so I got the chance to take steps back to tell the story in all its rawness.

It wasn’t long after I arrived that Mama was ready. With so much strength and autonomy she reached down and birthed her baby into her own hands. She was able to be the first to hold baby and comfort them! No extra hands rubbing or stimulating them, just Mama’s arms and the parent’s voices waking them up. I love seeing ‘hands-off’ birth supported because it’s such a peaceful way we can bring our babies into the world.

After they spent time soaking it all in, there in the birth water, she moved to the bed to rest and get to know baby even more. It was calm and the room was filled with laughter and joy!

Mom’s reflections about the photos after the birth were so beautiful.

“I loved seeing everything and all the rawness of birth. For months I relived the moments, there’s just something about having photos to look at, you feel like such a badass!”

And she was a Bad Ass!

The one where we repositioned the baby.

This mama had night after night of back labor, which told me one thing: baby was likely sunny side up and needed to flip over in order to get labor moving and help with the backache.

When the day came, mama got checked by her birth team and was discouraged to find she was sitting around 1cm. Her very kind and wise midwives left to give her space to get into active labor and we expected she might reach that point sometime in the middle of the night.

3 hours later, she was feeling contractions 3 minutes apart but they were all in her back. So, I came over to help hopefully reposition the baby and support her as her doula.

When I arrived we got right to it. We did the some moves from Spinning Babies, The 3 Balances, dip the hip, abdominal lift, and tuck, hands and knees, and sat on the toilet. Within 1 hour she was feeling that much-needed progression and some pushy sensations! We called her midwives back to support her and check her cervix. They arrived and found she had made it to 7cm already! Baby was definitely ready and in the perfect position.

It’s wild how important positioning can be for labor progression going quickly or slowly. Position is everything. Thank you, Spinning Babies!

We all stayed close as Mama worked with strength and endurance. 3 hours after that check mama felt the deep urge to push and baby girl was born at 10:29 pm! We were all so excited for her and baby! To witness such a powerful story of how important it is to listen to our bodies and support physiological birth!

Midwives

Instinct and intuition should be the guides of every birthing story.. But it requires a sacred space being held around birth. One that offers protection, a calming sense of safeness, and complete honor and submission to the birth process.

This should be the goal of every birth attendant and care provider. To create such a powerful sense of birth support that the natural instincts of the mother can be born and found to birth her baby.

Midwife

When your baby is born, they enter the world still connected to their home. The placenta may take time to detach but in most situations will release on its own when it’s ready.
This is a beautiful time to leave baby connected to the cord. Delaying the disconnect of the cord from baby (also called delayed cord clamping) comes with many benefits.
🔷The oxygenated blood being given to your newborn through the cord offers the perfect transitional breathing support for your baby. They are adjusting from the womb to breathing air and this can take some time, so leaving baby attached is an incredibly helpful way for them to take their time.. along with skin-to-skin on you.
🔷Those extra precious minutes allow an infusion of oxygen-rich blood, boosting your baby's overall blood volume with nutrient dense blood that was meant for your baby to have.
🔷Research also suggests that delayed clamping enhances the transfer of stem cells, nurturing your baby's developing immune system well into their first months of life to help fight off sickness.
Birth really is so powerful when left untouched and un-rushed!

I’m so thankful you’re here! I can’t say it enough to be honest, that I have a space to not only share the profound beauty of birth but that I get to support my family with my passion.

If we haven’t met yet, I’m Natalie. I’m a doula, mom of two, chicken/goat farmer, and I believe breastmilk may be the fix-all gift from the universe! I spend most of my life supporting birthing families as a doula, photographer, and videographer. And it’s a profound privilege to witness each and every story of birth unfold. My heart is filled with gratitude for each family who places their trust in me and all of you following along on my journey.

Photo credit:

Parenthood is this beautiful metamorphosis.
It’s a mixture of so many complex feelings for you and your partner. I can remember that overwhelm of grateful yet exhausted, and deeply in love that hit me right after having my first. And how it mingled with a secret yearning for just a bit more time of how it was before becoming parents. It felt like a time of shedding and transforming that you can’t truly prepare for. A change that you can only lean into.
Midwife

Hey, I’m Natalie! If we haven’t met in person I just want to say welcome and I’m genuinely glad you’re here! Most people call me a “birth nerd” because I literally could talk about birth all day long if you let me. But that’s because birth is where my passion starts and ends. I love guiding families through the transformation of birth starting from their choices of WHERE, to the harder and more emotional choices like HOW. I have spent a lot of time and energy into learning about birth and how to best support YOU to have the best experience possible! Just consider me your new BFF & walking birth encyclopedia.

I'm THRILLED (shocked, floored, and honored) to announce that I was named Birth Photographer of the Year 2023!

Thank you so much to all the amazing families who've let me capture their incredible stories. Your trust and openness mean the world to me, so thank you.

Thank you to my husband and my children and my support people, on-call childcare, everyone behind the scenes who supports me so that I can be on-call.

Huge gratitude to ALL the other birth photographers out there – you all keep pushing the bar higher, and it’s my privilege to be a part of this community who is normalizing birth.

And, of course, a big round of applause to Lacey Barratt, Atkins Photo Lab, Paul Atkins, and all the judges on the committee!

I'm truly honored and humbled to receive this award. Thank you!

Birth Photographer of the Year

The one where I caught the baby…

This mama had been experiencing contractions for weeks. It was becoming their new normal and weighing heavy on their hearts, just ready for the “real thing” to begin. I finally got the call one night around 3:30am that waters had broken. While I listened to mama on the phone and it didn’t sound active I decide I’d still head their way to support them, because you can never trust a multip (second+ time birth).

I arrived around 4:30am. She was laboring with strength and patience. When she was checked she was around 3cm. But she still kept feeling the need to p**p. She went into the bathroom for some privacy and then return to labor with the support of her birth team. But she still felt that pressure and need to p**p so when she went into the bathroom again, I decided to accompany her leaving my camera in the bedroom (I was also her doula).

Baby was suddenly and spontaneously born on the toilet at 5:50am, only around 10-15 minutes after cervix was checked at 3cm. I did not know she was pushing or bearing down on the toilet. I saw her put her hand between her legs and put a finger inside, asked her what she felt, she said "just pressure."

When she just stood up, there was another huge gush of waters, and I moved from where I was sitting to look between her legs and saw the baby emerging. I instinctively put my hands on the baby to help her catch, she was standing up over the toilet and I called out to the midwives, “the baby is out!”

Sharon and Desi came running and after Sharon helped hold the baby I ran and got my camera. While I hate that I missed the “moment” there was no way any of us could have predicted it happening so swiftly. She had just been checked at 3cm.

When I reflected back with mom about the experience she said she felt only calm from me, as if we both knew it was about to happen. She loved how there was no adrenaline in the space. It was such a meaningful moment to me and truly unfolded exactly as it was meant to!

Midwives: .midwifery

Hi friend! I'm Natalie. I try to introduce myself on here from time to time. I have two kids, both were unmedicated births with midwives - one at home and one at Andaluz waterbirth center, supported by my incredible husband and life partner, Derrick.

The wonderful and empowering experiences I had with birth changed my life and set me on the path of exploring birth work.

I love what I do, supporting families through the transition into parenthood or welcoming a new sibling into the family as a birth doula.

And I take so much pride in documenting birth, both through photography and video. I think it's so important to be able to remember the day your baby was born - who was there, what it felt like, what the mood was, how your partner supported you, your baby's first cry, and your reactions as you see your baby for the very first time.

Birth work is something that makes me feel passionate and alive - I know this is exactly what I'm meant to be doing with my life.

Anyone else feeling all the feelings with school starting this fall? I was holding it together until I watched my son walk my daughter into school, holding her hand. She's unbelievably excited for kindergarten, but right at the last moment, she got nervous. Seeing him take her hand and lead her inside is everything I hoped their sibling relationship would be - and OF COURSE cried as I drove away 😅🥹😭

Happy World Breast(chest)feeding Week to our Bridgetown Baby community! 2023 WBW is focusing on breastfeeding and employment/work. It will showcase the impact of paid leave, workplace support, and emerging parenting norms on breastfeeding through the lens of parents themselves.

This year's theme feels close to our hearts as a team of IBCLCs and Postpartum Doulas. Not only do we work with clients that are transitioning back to the work the place, but a lot of us are working parents ourselves.

If you need support as you transition back to work, especially when it comes to a feeding/pumping plan, connect with one of the amazing lactation consultants at Bridgetown Baby!












Photo Credit: Natalie Broders Photography

Being a parent means embracing the unexpected and finding beauty in the chaos. Share a funny or surprising parenting moment that made you laugh out loud – let's bring some joy into our feeds!

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