Pregnancy and birth happen as they do, yet many women are openly judged if a “not natural” option is chosen. Recently, photographer Helen Aller, from Guernsey, UK, took this intimate photo of a mother and her three-day-old baby boy next to her caesarean incision. The woman, who did not want to be identified, had decided on a vaginal birth, but was forced to have an emergency caesarean due to complications. She wanted a picture taken of the operation that saved her and her baby.
“I photographed this mama's pregnancy a while back and she was telling me how terrified she was of having a c-section,” wrote Aller on Facebook. “Well last week she went into labor but had to have an emergency c-section after complications. She asked me to come over this morning and shoot this particular image as her worst nightmare proved to be what saved her and her child's lives.”
More info: Facebook
“[She] wanted something to show that her biggest fear was what in the end saved both of them. I think she will see that scar and appreciate the life they were given”
“I can't believe the amount of women that are ashamed of their scars and made to feel like they haven't done the job properly because they didn't give birth naturally,” Aller wrote on Facebook