Henry's Birth Story - Exeter Birth Photographer (Aga Kowalska)

29.03.2019 Henry’s Birth Story, Exeter

I bet you heard this date mentioned on the news hundreds of times in the last several months. That was the day Britain was supposed to get the divorce with the EU. As I am sharing this post I have no idea what the future will bring in this regard but the date surely was a significant one for people of Britain.

For Henry’s family (Paulina, Peter and big sis Nina) this date is a monumental one for whole different reasons.

A family that loves looking after their memories

Paulina is also a fellow photographer and like me she appreciates and specialises in capturing real life, raw emotions and authenic memories, as opposed to just perfectly posed ones. She knows exactly how precious memories are that’s why she contacted me to book this experience as a legacy for her family.

She said: „There were a few reasons why I decided to book Aga for Henry’s birth. Firstly, welcoming a baby into our family is one of the most significant moments in our family history. All these authenic emotions, especially the first moments with our baby son are absolutely priceless and we didn’t want to lose them. Also, we are not planning on having any more children so we wanted to honour and mark this event in our life in an appropriately special way. My goal was to get a real yet beautiful account of the events of the day. Aga was just the person to do it”.

Any photographer will tell you that being booked by a fellow photographer is like a double tap on the shoulder and an even more special compliment. But it is also double the stress and responsibility for fairly obvious reasons.

‚I think it’s started’

I was in regular contact with Paulina, making sure I was on top of my schedule and able to clear it when I am needed. Paulina messaged me around midday to alert me that she has started getting regular contractions. Within minutes I was ready to shoot off: childcare – check, transport – check, equipment – check, food and other necessities for me – check. I was there for them, with no time restrictions.

When I arrived in the hospital I was greeted by Paulina with the most radiant smile and I felt a bit tricked. She didn’t look like a woman who is in pain and about to deliver a human. She was holding up like a boss. Wow. But contractions were a real thing and Henry was clearly at the door, ready to come out.

From around 3pm her contractions started building up but in between them we joked, chatted and realised that things were real. Paulina opted for water birth and followed the principles of hypnobirthing to aid the process with relaxation and breathing. I felt humbled watching how amazing she did.

Rosie, the midwife was an absolute star too: she kept an eye on Paulina and her baby making sure things were going well, but was also very accommodating and allowed us to capture the whole thing.

At this point I should probably explain that Paulina and baby’s safety were the absolute priority at all times. I assured Rosie that I wouldn’t do anything to obstruct her work and would stay aside as much as possible. I am so pleased to say that the cooperation between all the people in the room was amazing and the results speak for themselves:

I adored every single moment of this journey. Even when pain reached the paramount and emotions were really high, I knew that within minutes amazing thing would happen and exhaustion will be replaced with enormous joy. The moment Paulina held her baby for the first time was like a transformation and her face says it all.