These raw images of childbirth will take your breath away

Before having given birth myself, I don't think I could have stomached watching an episode of One Born Every Minute.

I mean; at first glance, it does seem very messy. It sounds very painful and there is just so much, ehm, fluid everywhere. Now? Now I cry every time I happen to watch it. Weep as I watch mum after mum being handed their babies, knowing that feeling of life as you know it changing forever, whether you are welcoming your first baby or your fifth. One more baby welcomed, one more soul to love. Giving birth is one of those experiences that you have to live through to understand the magnitude of, I think. Because yes, it is painful and raw and intense – and even scary, that feeling of having to let go of all control as your body takes over, showing you what it was designed to do. But it is also the most beautiful thing I have ever done. Those moments, seconds, before you give birth, that feeling of knowing that it is almost over, that you have done this, that you are about to meet your baby, those are moments so deeply engraved in your soul that once you have lived them, they will forever be part of you. For Texas photographer Leilani Rogers, all those feelings, and the both miraculous and raw reality that is childbirth, is what she has been trying to capture in her latest series of images. As the founder of the Public Breastfeeding Awareness Project, Rogers has been documenting pregnancy, birth and early motherhood for years now, and recently shared some of the images taken of the 60 different mothers she has collected to show that every side of the birthing process is breathtaking in its own right Spine-tinglingly beautiful, no? Like; it will take your breath away with the amazingness that is Mother Nature and our truly magical bodies and what they can do. “I sincerely hope that these photos normalise birth – show that it isn't “gross”,” Leilani told The Huffington Post. “There are people in this world who won't even subject themselves to discussing birth, let alone viewing images of it. But I don't see how anyone can deny that these images portray birth as the miraculous occasion that it can be." She continues: “Birth is considered by many to be a private matter, yet, it is this amazing thing that we should be teaching our children about and celebrating. So I think people view these photos as equal parts enlightening and fascinating.” What do YOU think? Are these pictures beautiful or just way too real? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or e-mail me at: Trine.Jensen@Herfamily.ie