As someone who has not yet had to endure expelling an entire human out of myself, I have mad respect for all moms everywhere, regardless of how they give birth. But I have to say, people who choose home birth are a completely different brand of fearless. That is exactly what 33-year-old Brazilian photographer Line Sena hoped to capture with her photos of a home birth, which give honest and occasionally brutal insight into the real experiences of women who choose to give birth at home with midwives.
Sena, a mother of two, said in an interview with BuzzFeed that her initial inspiration for the series came from her own home birth. She explained that, in Brazil, a lot of women end up getting unnecessary and expensive post-birth procedures done in hospitals, and rather than deal with it, she took matters into her own hands and skipped the hospital altogether.
"I knew I wanted a normal, natural birth. I started researching and learned that the rate of cesarean births in Brazil is much higher than what’s recommended by the World Health Organization," said Sena in her interview.
After the rewarding experience, she set to reliving it by capturing other mothers during their trials and tribulations with laboring at home.
"The first contact with this was when I had my son David in my house. He is 5 years old now," said Sena. "The midwife knew that a journalist wanted to write about it. She asked if she could see and photograph the birth. I said yes."
Sena is now a member of the International Birth Photographers Association, and frequently photographs home births like her own.
"Feelings and relationships between people during childbirth inspire me. Not only feelings of love, but also of fear and insecurity. How a woman deals with the pain," Sena told BuzzFeed.
You can see more of her honest and inspiring photo series on her Facebook page.
Images: Courtesy of linesenafotografa/Facebook (7)
