If one has ever stubbed her toe or banged her knee and yelled out reflexively, she'll know that a good scream does wonders for her pain tolerance. Now think how good it feels to let loose with a roar when giving birth. We found some amazing pictures of women letting out a primal roar while pushing babies earth side. These pictures are raw, beautiful, and full of emotion. Read on to see the amazing experience!
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Call it a mom roar or a birth roar, that sound echoing through the maternity ward is just a bit more proof that birthing women are some of the most powerful beings on earth. As they do the hard work to bring a baby earth side, many women find it helpful, effective, and even cathartic to let out a loud howl from within. Several birth photographers from around the world have captured the magical moment when a laboring mom finds that might deep down within and brings it forth. The images aren't just powerful … they're primal.
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Listen closely while perusing these images, and one might just hear the roars. Read on to see these amazing, primal photos, because mama's are strong!
All Together Now
They say it takes a village, and when Alanna Farmer looked back at this image she'd captured, the San Diego birth photographer said she realized it wasn't just about raising kids, but birthing them too! "When you have your village with you, you can do anything," she said.
On the Ball
When Sharona Steed is photographing a birth, the Orange County photographer says there's a moment when she sees a mom realize she "can't maneuver around the pain, and she must face it head-on."
That's when it happens for Steed. "She is surrounded and supported by her team of champions, yet the laboring mother feels alone in her suffering. And just as the moon controls the ocean's tides, so too are the ebb and flow of primal sounds erupting from her lips controlled by the contractions. The crescendo to this primal piece is her roar, greater than all the lions on the savanna, as her baby enters the world. All the mother hears then is the sweetest song she has ever known — her child's first cries."
See? Badass!
Coming in Waves
Tara Garner says she was captivated by the chance to witness this mom's birth from behind her lens.
"Mom's surrender and strength as her baby began to crown was powerful, seeming to foreshadow that same kind of deep surrender and strength required of us in motherhood when raising our children," Garner says. "Then you have the husband who was 'in it' with her as far as he could possibly go, constantly connecting with her, tears rolling down his cheeks — his pride over her and belief in her was too precious for words. Lastly, the intuitive birth team of midwives holding her space knowing exactly when and how to make her more comfortable as she treaded that last, hardest part of her birth journey was awe-inspiring.”
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You're Gonna Hear Me Roar
To Laura Fifield, a birth roar "sums up courage, strength, and that as mothers, we will go to the ends of the earth for our children."
"The power behind this image moves me in such a way, seeing the determination to complete that last phase, the transition to earthside," the Spokane, Washington–area photographer says.
A Helping Hand
When Ashton Dent is shooting a birth, she's not just looking to give them a beautiful image, but also to show a mom her own strength. "Most mamas are so in tune with their bodies they aren't even remotely aware of how badass they look to the rest of us looking in," she says. "To me, this image embodies everything this mom went through to bring her baby into the world. This is the roar of thousands of years of women before her. It's primal, fierce, and absolutely beautiful. Now, she has a little piece of it to remember for the rest of her life."
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Bring It On!
When doula Britney Asbell gave birth to her rainbow baby, she says it was very different from the birth of her first child — from start to finish. And when photographer Heather Dimsdale shared this photo of her birth with her, Asbell says, "It was as if I was taken back to the exact moment, an intense moment where there was no more coping, it was all so very primal. Shortly after this photo was taken, I was holding my boy, my miracle, in my arms!"
This was Dimsdale's second time shooting one of Asbell's births, and she added, "Let me just tell you what an inspiration she is! She 100 percent believes in herself and her body's capability of bringing her baby into this world. Capturing these intense and powerful moments for her to always have to look back on is the exact reason why I love birth stories so much."
Warrior Song
"She was so silent and inward throughout labor but her feminine energy spilled out like a warrior's song," Canadian photographer Krista Evans says of this badass mama. "Her sacred birth cry thundered as she felt her babe crowning through. Powerful, soulful, and surrendering and I will never forget bearing witness to it."
Hold on Tight
When Denver, Colorado–area photographer Monet Nicole looks at this image she captured of a mom squeezing down and roaring, she says she sees "just how powerful we are when we give birth … how we must delve into this deep, instinctual place to make it to the other side where we meet our baby."
We Shall Overcome
Brazilian photographer Debora Silveira says this shot captures "the strength, pain, and overcoming."
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In the Water
Austin, Texas birth photographer Leilani Rogers of Photos by Lei has been photographing births since 2009, and this mom roar is one of her favorites.
I. Can. Do. It.
This mom's birth was one of the fastest Ashley Marston has ever shot, and yet one of the most memorable too.
"This strong and inspiring mother roared her baby out with every contraction as they were coming faster and faster," the Canadian photographer says. "I was captivated by her power and completely honored to have captured it."