As you prepare to welcome your little bundle of joy into the world, the experience of pregnancy is truly magical and beautiful. Witnessing your body change as your baby grows inside you creates a sense of wonder and excitement. With your due date approaching, you find yourself eagerly anticipating the arrival of your little one. During this special time, considering a maternity photo session can be a wonderful idea.
Preparing for your baby’s arrival involves various tasks, such as shopping for adorable baby clothes, setting up a cozy nursery, and packing your hospital bag. As your focus shifts towards this precious new life, a maternity photo session allows you to document and capture the journey into motherhood. These photos become a treasured record of your story, experiences, and the place you find yourself in at this moment.
Beyond the present, maternity photos hold significant value as they preserve a unique and cherished period in your life. Looking back on them in the future brings joy and nostalgia, allowing you to relive the emotions and memories associated with your pregnancy. They serve as a beautiful reminder of the miraculous journey you embarked upon as you awaited the arrival of your baby.
In this article, you will discover compelling reasons why maternity photos are worth considering. Additionally, you will find inspiring ideas for when to schedule your maternity photo session. These ideas will help you create a memorable and meaningful collection of photographs that celebrate the remarkable journey of becoming a mother.
Maternity Photoshoot
A maternity photo shoot is generally a photo session that captures a woman while she’s pregnant. You might decide to be photographed alone or with the father of the child and (if applicable) the existing children that you share.
Regardless, maternity photos are always taken during one’s pregnancy, typically sometime during the third and final trimester. However many argue that the idea of flaunting one’s pregnancy came up in August of 1991. That’s when American actress Demi Moore appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair. She was completely naked and seven months pregnant with her daughter, Scout LaRue Willis.
Must I Take Maternity Photos?
While taking maternity photos is not mandatory or obligatory, there is an undeniable magic associated with pregnancy, despite its ups and downs. It signifies the beginning of a new life, and every hiccup, kick, and gentle nudge against your ribs creates a profound connection that only you can experience.
Once this remarkable journey comes to an end, you may find yourself reminiscing and walking down memory lane, recalling those precious baby kicks (and the joy of guilt-free indulgence in food cravings). Although maternity photos are not a requirement, capturing these moments can be a beautiful way to freeze-frame this unique phase of your life. After all, pregnancy is a temporary experience, and it tends to pass by more quickly than expected or anticipated.
Having these photos serves as a lasting reminder of the time when a new life was growing inside you. Looking back at them in the future will likely bring a smile to your face, evoking a sense of nostalgia and appreciation for the incredible journey you embarked upon.
If you are undergoing a high-risk pregnancy and maternity photos hold significance for you, it may be wise to consider scheduling your photo session earlier than the recommended time frame. This approach ensures that you avoid overexertion in the later stages of pregnancy, prioritizing the well-being of both you and your baby.
Remember, the decision to take maternity photos is a personal one, and it is entirely up to you to decide whether it aligns with your desires and circumstances. If you choose to capture these precious moments, they will serve as cherished mementos of the time when you nurtured a new life within you.
When to Take Maternity Photos
Not all pregnancies are the same in terms of symptom causes, which can be complicated by factors such as family genetics, individual health factors, environmental influences, and even a woman’s physiological body history.
Along with any past experiences of physical, mental, or emotional trauma (including miscarriage, phantom pregnancy, or previous negative term birth outcomes), as well as how a body responds to being pregnant, are all considerations to be acknowledged.
Having this in mind, the best time for maternity pictures is when you feel good and are still feeling comfortable. In most cases, this feeling and experience can be during your 7th or 8th month of pregnancy, between 30-36 weeks. During this time, your belly will start to be nice and round and generally, but will not have dropped down too far yet, which makes your belly appear higher.
The start of your third trimester is the perfect time for a maternity photo shoot. If you decide to schedule your photos sooner, just consider the size of your belly and if you are happy with the size of your bump. On the other hand, if you schedule your photo shoot at the last minute or around your due date, you may find that you start to feel uncomfortable and tired. You also need to be mindful that babies sometimes make an unexpected “early” arrival.
Surprising Reasons For Taking Maternity Photos
Pregnancy can have its-less-than-enjoyable moments and you might feel like you are not rocking it but one thing you would not regret is documenting this beautiful thing your body is doing by taking maternity photos. Here are five good reasons why every mama-to-be should schedule a maternity photo session.
1. Increase Bonding
Being pregnant can sometimes cause tension in a relationship due to mood swings and the anticipated change in lifestyle. The financial pressure can also intensify that stress. What you need is a way to keep your eyes on the bigger picture and not just focus on the hardships you’re currently experiencing.
Taking maternity photos together with your partner is a great way to strengthen your bond and celebrate the new life you’re bringing into this world. It is that final chance to document how your dynamics are changing. You’re morphing from a couple into a family.
Many fathers experience a delay in bonding with their children when they’re in the belly. They do not experience pregnancy in the same way as their spouse, so it can be harder for them to build an attachment to their infant until it is born. They often do not build a connection with their newborn until they’re able to interact with it.
That’s completely different from mothers, who experience a deep attachment to the baby while pregnant. Taking maternity photos can help new fathers develop a strong emotional bond with their growing baby. Helping your spouse bond with your infant will also help you both re-establish your connection.
2. A Reminder To Celebrate
A maternity photo session is usually a lot of fun. It’s a way to celebrate an important milestone in a mom’s life. You’ll smile, laugh, and get even more excited about the baby’s arrival. Pregnancy may not be a phase of your life you enjoy, especially in the last few months.
As your body grows larger, you may not want any photos of yourself taken and would not want to share images with friends and family. It can be a challenge to watch your body change so much, and it can also be easy to forget just how miraculous and incredible pregnancy is.
You see, at the end of the day you come to realize the beautiful truth that you’re growing as a human being, and that is enough of a reason to celebrate!
A maternity photo session allows you to focus on the new life your body is working so hard to create, instead of the way you look and can remind you of the excitement and joy that comes with bringing your child into the world.
3. Your Beauty
You might not feel like you’re “glowing,” but you are. Maternity images perfectly capture a pregnant woman’s beauty, and that is something you would enjoy having a picture of in decades to come. Between the big tummy, the urge to eat everything in sight, and the fact that none of your clothes fit anymore, pregnancy does not always make you feel beautiful.
Most women experience a decline in self-confidence as their pregnancy progresses. Your ever-expanding tummy may seem like the perfect excuse to avoid taking photos for a solid nine months, but it’s just the opposite.
Dressing up in a way that accentuates your bump, putting on some makeup, and pampering yourself for a photo session may be just what the doctor ordered for a case of pregnancy blues. When you see your pictures after the shoot, you may be surprised at just how beautiful you look.
4. Child’s Baby Book
Many people create a baby book for their child of early images and how much they grow in the first year. Maternity photos are the perfect start to a child’s baby book. Time starts to tick fast from the day your infant is placed in your arms. One minute a nurse is teaching you how to swaddle, and the next you are chasing a toddler through the aisles at Target.
You are going to miss the calm days of pregnancy when you did not have to keep tabs on the diaper bag or wipes every time you headed to the store. You would miss that your baby bump could not talk back to you when you get into an argument with your toddler over whether they should eat a popsicle for every meal.
As your child grows, you will probably find yourself reminiscing about your pregnancy days and how quiet the house was. You would love to reflect on how you had such a tiny human growing inside you, and your maternity photos in your child’s baby book will be a wonderful reminder of a time long gone.
Your children will enjoy seeing these pictures when they are older, too. They would love seeing how gorgeous their mum was when you were pregnant with them. Those few extra pounds or the bags under your eyes from your lack of sleep would be unnoticeable.
They would focus on something more important than that; the love in your eyes and the joy that was radiating from you.
5. Family Treasure
Whether this is your first child or many have come before, maternity photos can be done with the whole family to freeze a special moment in time. Having your partner and kids in the images can create a photo full of love. You can never have too many photos of your family. So much of life passes by in a blur, and we often forget more than we remember. Whether this is your first child or your fourth, your pregnancy is a great time to get some family photos with not just you and your partner, but your other children as well.
If you take time to do photo sessions regularly, you can chart the growth of your family over the years, something your future self and your children will be thankful for. By having maternity photos taken, you are giving your child a glimpse of a world they would never be able to see for themselves, the time their parents spent as a couple before they entered the picture. They would have physical proof of how excited you were to meet them.
As hard as it might be to envision now, time passes quickly. It would not be long before your child may be showing these pictures to their child. Your grandchild, who might only know you as the gray-haired grandma who is always quick to offer a hug and a cookie, will have the opportunity to see you in another light.
That is a tremendous gift to give your child and the children who come into your family after them. And it’s a great present for yourself and your spouse as well. It’s something the whole family will cherish forever.
Reasons Why Most Women Don’t Want The Maternity Shot
Although the whole maternity shoot thing is gaining popularity, not all moms-to-be do a maternity photo shoot and these reasons are:
1. Keeping Things Real
Maternity photos are so styled and staged that some feel they do not show off the true side of pregnancy. As previously mentioned, pregnancy can sometimes suck, especially if you’re dealing with serious issues such as hyperemesis gravidarum or gestational diabetes, just to name a couple. Doing a maternity photo shoot hides the reality that pregnancy can be hard. That is why some pregnant women will skip them in the name of keeping things real on social media.
2. The Pictures Are Of No Use
The maternity photo shoot relates to one simple question: what does one do with the photos from said photo shoot? The most obvious answer is to post them all across your social media pages. But after that, what do you do then? What if you don’t want to share them on social media? Do you hand them out to your family and friends? Or do you keep them for yourself to look at once in a blue moon? There aren’t any real answers here.
3. A Photoshoot Is Reasonably Priced
Some moms-to-be argue that you don’t need a maternity photo shoot to properly capture your pregnancy. You can take a photo yourself instead of spending hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on a photo shoot. That money could go towards buying diapers and other important baby supplies. Besides, you would eventually have a reminder of your pregnancy and your newborn baby once he or she is born.
Other reasons could be:
- Low self-confidence
- A child born out of wedlock
- A toxic or poor marriage
Conclusion
Pregnancy is a time filled with hope and anticipation for the future, regardless of how you may feel physically or emotionally. As you embark on the journey of raising your child, it’s natural to become immersed in the day-to-day responsibilities and challenges, causing the memories of eagerly awaiting their arrival to fade over time.
Maternity photos have the power to serve as a poignant reminder of those feelings and emotions for years to come. While pregnancy is a unique and temporary experience, it holds immense significance in a woman’s life. Having a tangible memento of this special time can bring joy and nostalgia, allowing you to revisit the anticipation and excitement surrounding your child’s impending arrival.
There are no hard and fast rules about who should be included in maternity photos. Some photos may solely capture the mother lovingly gazing at her growing belly, while others may feature her partner, parents, best friends, or even the beloved family pet. The choice of who to include in these photos is entirely personal and depends on the dynamics and relationships that are meaningful to you.
Regardless of the composition of the photos, the essence lies in capturing the emotions, love, and connection associated with this remarkable period. These photos will serve as treasured keepsakes, preserving the memories of your pregnancy journey and allowing you to reflect on the beauty and significance of that time in the years to come.
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