For people who have experienced it, the pain and joy of childbirth is something that can hardly be described in words.

Hearing your baby’s first cry, holding the tiny fingers in your hand and cradling the soft bundle can be an overwhelming experience – nature’s great reward for a woman’s suffering.

These intimate portraits of mothers and fathers meeting their new-born sons and daughters for very first time offer an intimate look at the forging of an unbreakable, sacred lifelong bond.

In some of the images, the pain of the expectant mother is almost palpable – and those who have gone through a delivery will surely remember those excruciating moments of labor.

But in the end, with the primal agony of birth behind them, the mothers’ faces are glowing with boundless happiness at having been a part of a real-life miracle.

The images collected here, both in black and white and in color, vividly capture the awe parents feel kissing their babies for their first time, touching their almost impossibly tiny feet, holding their clutched fists, their eyes still adjusting to the first visions of the world they have just entered.

In many cases, the moms and dads are overcome with emotions, weeping at the sight of their long-awaited offspring – but these are tears of joy.

Above all, the happy mothers embracing their precious babies exude a sense of serenity – as if they finally feel complete and in perfect harmony with the universe.

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Most precious gift: A mother is lovingly watching her newborn baby in a hospital room

 

Birthday: A newborn’s tiny feet sticking out of a swaddling cloth as the baby is being cradled by the mother

 

Picture worth a thousand words: For women who have experienced it, the pain and joy of childbirth is something that can hardly be described in words

 

Intimate look: The labor pain of the expectant mother is almost palpable – as is the tenderness of the baby’s father

 

First moments on Earth: Cradling the soft bundle can be an overwhelming an experience – nature’s great reward for the mother’s suffering

 

Family meeting: A sister is giving her newborn baby brother a smooch on his miniscule nose as their mother cradles him

With the agony of birth behind her, the mothers’ faces are glowing with boundless happiness

 

 

 

Fresh look: The eyes of these two newborns, with little Jaiden on the right, are still adjusting to the first visions of the world they have just entered

By land or by water: This precious bundle cradle by his mothetr was brought into the world via a water birth

 

Just the two of us: The happy mothers and dads embracing their precious babies exude a sense of serenity and wholeness

Seal of approval: To make it official, a baby’s tiny foot is dipped in ink so he could leave an imprint on a certificate for his parents to keep

Tears of joy: A happy mom is tearing up holding her youngster in the delivery room

Firm grasp: Adam, only a minute after his birth. After the dad cut the umbilical cord, Adam somehow managed to grab on to the attached clamp

 

Glowing: After the delivery, this mother appears to be overcome with the feeling of having experienced a miracle

Beautiful moment a newborn refuses to let go of mummy

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