Choosing which images to show of this families incredible journey is seriously tough!! Darcy was baby #3 for the family & it’d been 12 years since Mum had her last. Mum is a midwife/nurse/doula, with plenty of experience delivering babies. In fact, she was my first nurse when I had my own babies in hospital over 5 & 9 yrs ago.

When she contacted me, she just knew that she would be having a home birth. She showed me the beautiful room she had, all set up with a pool, soft lighting & the home-made affirmation cards she’d made with her girls. They were excited. She is one of those mums that suits pregnancy & just takes it as it comes.

Being asked to be her photographer didn’t get lost on me. Cate has seen me work my photography magic with a few other mums, but has also worked with other photographers, so when she chose me to capture their story, I was & still am, both humbled & grateful!

This family are pro-let-nature-take-it’s-course & had every faith that their little child/sibling would arrive when he was ready & in good health. They trusted the journey. The night of April 3, I got a call at about 5:30pm to say she was in active labour & approx 7cm. On doctors papers, she was almost a month overdue, but everyone was in perfect health & Cate trusted in her body, her baby & her faith.

I arrived about 15 minutes later, bumping into Cate’s beautiful mum at the door. She’d got the call to say a baby boy had arrived!! I’d missed it… He made us wait those extra few weeks, only to speed on into the world in those final minutes.

I walked into a room enveloped with love & awe. Darcy was cradled in his dad’s arms, mere minutes old, floating contently in the warm water. He was a picture of perfect health, born with a true knot in his cord. I watched & captured a family that was able to take their time to get to know each other, & huddle together at home on their own couch, in their own space, in a state of new baby bliss.

Cate was supported by her best friend & fellow midwife during her entire birth.

I may have missed the labour & crowning, but those first moments after birth are something magic. That night, on the 3rd of April, I got to witness that magic firsthand as they cherished this baby boy & his epic entry Earthside.