Photographer snaps mum’s delight at giving birth to a boy... and it only took 50 years

When Ker-Fox Photography was sitting in the labour ward taking snaps of her friend giving birth, she had no idea how magical it was going to be.

In all the births she has recorded, never has she caught a reaction so perfectly: “Hands down the best reaction in 100-plus births and six years of doing this!”

Speaking to MagicMum the Georgia-based photographer, Neely, shared:

“In my 100-plus births I've photographed, I’ve seen all kinds of reactions. Some of the most heart warming, soul stirring, tear filled moments.”

“But when Dara looked over at me, and I captured this reaction, knowing the innocent and very real worries we have when our second child comes into the world, I burst into tears behind the camera.

All of that anxiety, and worry vanished in the blink of an eye.”

Dara, the woman giving birth, is a labour and delivery nurse at the exact hospital where she was in labour.

Therefore the room was filled with familiar faces, midwives, nurses, Neely of course and Dara’s husband, making the event quite emotional for all.

As Dara was at ease with her friends around, Neely told MagicMum:

“We're all quite close to Dara, so there was a candid moment about 10 minutes before the baby was born. Dara jokingly, but probably honestly said to us all she didn't know what to do with a boy.

It was said with a smile and tears. I think any mum feels that way after having one gender and then the other. But nonetheless it was an honest, tender, vulnerable moment.”

But Dara explained: “There hasn't been a boy in my family in over 50 years, so naturally I just assumed it was a girl. It never really set in that this baby could be a boy until just a few minutes before he was born.

I started freaking out because I had never been around a little boy, and didn't know much about raising one.”

Dara’s husband had always felt that the baby was going to be a boy as they already had a daughter, but the couple decided to keep the gender a surprise.

However Dara felt she was expecting a girl, telling us: “I had this weird connection to my daughter's clothes and since their birthdays would only be three weeks apart I knew I could reuse them.”

But within 10 minutes each person in the room was ecstatic to find out that Dara had just given birth to a healthy baby boy:

“When my midwife, Melissa, held him up I was in complete shock! It was a boy, and I lost it! I was so excited, and so in love! I couldn't imagine it being any other way!” added Dara.

Neely confirmed: “I couldn't believe it when Dara looked straight at me with that expression. There wasn't a dry eye in the room, myself included.

Even though I captured a moment of pure surprise, I also think I captured the moment that anxiety and worry vanished.”

Neely has been a birth photographer for six-years now and she’s delighted that people can see the joy and natural happiness that goes hand-in-hand with birth photography:

“People sometimes don't ‘get’ birth photography. But one day, her son will see this photo, and the others that I took that day, and see the love and excitement that welcomed him into this world.

It doesn't get much better than that.”