Photographers from around the world have captured the extraordinary, miraculous moment of birth in a mesmerising series of raw images.
The breathtakingly intimate photographs, which featured in this year’s International Birth Photography Awards, convey both the agony and ecstasy associated with giving birth.
The global contest, in collaboration with Atkins Lab, was founded by award-winning birth photographer Lacey Barratt, 36, from Melbourne, Australia, in an attempt to legitimise the stunning and intricate art of birth photography.
The striking images portray a selection of moments associated with birth, including delivery, postpartum, hardships and loss.
This year’s competition saw a record number of submissions as photographers from around the world entered their snaps to be considered for the awards.
The best overall photograph was awarded to Annemarie Fuckel from Germany.
Winners in other categories included: Paula Beltrao from Brazil for ‘Best in Birth’; Jessica Innnemee from the Netheralnds for ‘Best in Labour’; Mary Beliz from the US for ‘Best in Delivery’; Natalie Borders from the US for ‘Best in Postpartum’; and lastly, Ebony Ankins from Australia won ‘Best in Hardship and Loss’.
With almost 1,000 entries from around the world – including Brazil, Portugal, France, Germany, Australia and New Zealand, the judges had the difficult job of narrowing down the results.
The panel included reporters, doulas, previous winners of the competition, and other award-winning birth photographers.
For the second time since the start of the annual photography competition, the judges opened entries to a group of birthing stories that relate to hardships and loss, in recognition of the one in four birthing persons who experience miscarriage or infant loss.
Here, FEMAIL lists some of the stunning winning photographs from this year’s competition…
