Why Book a Maternity Photoshoot?

Excited to share this post written by Helen of Helen Mildmay Photography.

Helen shares about the magic of a maternity photoshoot, and whilst we might not feel beautiful or remarkable at the time, those memories of our pregnancies often go on to be some of our favourites and most treasured.

A maternity shoot is something I really wish I had done and I’d love to look back on photos of that time that aren’t either photos taken in a mirror or a rushed picture taken quickly by my husband!

Do check out Helen’s gorgeous work at @helenmildmay_photography and https://helenmildmay.com.

Helen is kindly gifting one lucky family from my next group course on 15 March 2025 a full newborn or maternity photoshoot. Find more info here.

When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I see on my bedside table is a self-portrait of my eldest daughter, then 2, wrapped in my arms and perched high on my huge tummy where her little sister was growing away, waiting to meet us only a few weeks later. It is my most treasured picture, and when I look at it I don’t remember the nausea, tiredness, swollen legs and varicose veins (those were awful, IYKYK!). I remember feeling so grateful and connected to them both in that moment, my whole world contained in my arms and my belly, a gift I questioned whether I’d ever have after the loss of my first baby.

Pregnancy can be an exhausting, busy and overwhelming time, I totally get it I’ve been there. Having photos taken to remember a time when you felt huge, anxious and tired might be the last thing on your mind. The whole journey of pregnancy tends to be about celebrating the arrival of this little person in your life, impatiently counting down the days until you meet them and ticking off the jobs you need to do before they’re here. 

A professional maternity session is a chance to slow down, just for a couple of hours. To celebrate not just your body and its amazing strength and resilience, but also to honour that bond with your child. The months where you could feel their every kick, summersault, and hiccup, as close as it’s possible for two humans to be. It celebrates those feelings of connection and anticipation as you wait to meet the little person who will change your life so completely. 

If you have other children who are also excitedly waiting to meet their little sibling this is a beautiful chance to pause and spend a few hours together as a family, creating and capturing memories that you will cherish for years to come. 

That photo beside my bed? It’s now one of my daughters’ favourite photos too. They love looking back at pictures of my swollen tummy, hardly believing how they managed to fit in there. It prompts questions about what foods I liked to eat when I was pregnant, what nicknames we gave them in my tummy. Conversations that they never tire of repeating, affirming just how deeply they are loved. And when I’m having a tough day it is a gentle reminder that I literally created life, if I can do that I can do anything! Looking at that photo now I feel beautiful and powerful, two words I would never previously have used to describe myself. 

So do the photoshoot, capture the memories, see yourself as I see you. Strong, feminine, powerful and so very beautiful.