all photography © Julia Chemotti 2010-2023

Labor takes many hours, and it only takes a few well-chosen moments for an experienced photographer to capture these once in a lifetime images for your family.  When you work with an experienced doula and birth photographer, all family members present can appear in the photos and also be present in the moment, and you can also experience all the benefits of doula support at the same time.  Someday you can tell your child the story of their birth with these images. 

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click here to view my birth and fresh 48 photography

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Here's what one mom, Susan B.,  has to say about her experience. . .

We were delighted to have the opportunity to work with Julia as a birth assistant
for the birth of our son in February 2022 at BirthCare in Alexandria. As a birth
assistant, Julia was a pleasure to work with both before and during our birth.
She was very attentive while I was in labor, offering suggestions on how to make
me more comfortable and help things progress that were very specific to my situation
and preferences. I was also grateful to have someone with us who was familiar with
the Bradley method, as that’s how we had prepared for our birth. When it came time
to push, I was struggling to figure out how to do it until Julia stepped in and helped
me find a way to breath and push that worked for me. I don’t think we would have
made it through without her!

As we also had a doula and a student midwife on hand to help with our birth,
Julia was also able to provide us with birth photography to capture the arrival
of our son. We didn’t have a photographer on hand when my first son was born
(just our own cell phone cameras!). I hadn’t wanted to invest the money when I
wasn’t sure what the experience would be like or how I would look in the pictures.
I also wasn’t sure about having a camera around when I knew I wouldn’t be fully
dressed! But after our first son was born, I missed not having something to help
us remember those first moments or better photos of when he was really truly
“freshly” arrived. 

I’m so grateful that Julia was able to capture those precious first moments
with the birth of our second son. I’ve enjoyed looking back on the pictures
over the weeks since our birth to remember what it was like to hold him for
the first time, and the experience of working together with my husband to
finally bring our son into the world. My concerns about how I would look in
the photos have also totally evaporated. The pictures Julia captured are
truly beautiful, and I can’t wait to share the photos and our birth story with
our family–and with our son, once he’s older. Thank you!