When Sarah Hill of Sarah Hill Photography gave birth, her midwife, Emily Dial, was with her every step of the way. The two became close friends, and once Dial found out that she was expecting her own child, she enlisted Hill to return the favor and be by her side as a birth photographer. Now, Hill's photos of Dial delivering her own baby via C-section are leaving people speechless.
As a midwife, Dial knew exactly what she wanted for her birth plan: to deliver her own baby.
Hill told CafeMom that as soon as Dial found out she was expecting, she had her mind set on pulling the baby out herself during the scheduled C-section. She asked Hill to be there to capture the big moment and she couldn't wait to witness this nontraditional birth.
Dial had an elective C-section with her firstborn, Grayson, but he sadly didn't survive.
According to Hill, Dial and her husband, Daniel, opted for a C-section with their firstborn because they knew that he was going to be born with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia. "Basically, he didn’t have the left side of his diaphragm and his bowel and liver were herniated into his chest and would not allow his lungs to grow," Hill says.
By delivering via C-section, Dial could recover in the same hospital where Grayson would be, instead of being induced at a different facility only for the newborn to be immediately transferred. Unfortunately, their little fighter didn't make it.
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This time, Dial wanted the experience to be different.
Since Dial works on the delivery ward at a local hospital, she and her colleagues were able to plan out in advance how to make her vision possible. "It made it even more special that she works beside her delivery team every day. As soon as I arrived I could feel the love in the room," Hill told Love What Matters. "Nurses, doctors, anesthesiologists eagerly came in and took guesses if it was going to be a boy or a girl because what’s more exciting than pulling out your own baby if you also don’t know the sex?"
In order to make it work, Dial had to scrub into her own surgery.
To keep everything sterile, Dial had to scrub in after being prepped for surgery and put gloves on over her IV. This allowed her to participate from the very start. After doctors made the incision, Dial reached down with the sterile screen covering her face and did the work. "It was an incredible feeling to reach down, feel her head, then slowly feel the rest of her coming, but a little strange not being able to feel the rest of my abdomen," she tells CafeMom.
Dial took her time with the moment and put the baby down a few times before she was fully born.
"I kept putting her down on my abdomen, but kept wanting more!" she says. "That’s why you see me set her down, then bring her back up several times. I didn’t want to break sterile field, but I wanted to kiss her sooo bad!"
And coming face-to-face -- before her baby was even born -- was the most surreal moment.
"Lifting her out and seeing her face-to-face is that surreal moment every mom relives the rest of their lives: that moment you are face-to-face with your child and having that moment of awe," she says.
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"I was amazed at how smoothly she came out, like just another day on the job for Emily!" Hill says.
"She pulled her all the way out and brought her up to where she could see what it was. A girl!! I don’t think there was a dry eye in the room!"
"It was truly a full-circle moment. It was tying together the two things I love the most: my family and my career," Dial told Love What Matters.
"It truly was one of the happiest moments of my life. I felt so supported by everyone in the room. My physicians are not only my colleagues but my friends, which made it all the more special. Even more, not knowing the baby’s gender before the birth made the experience all the more monumental."
Seeing Dial pull the baby herself was just as breathtaking for those watching her.
"This was by far one of the most incredible days of my life … It was unreal. To say that she is amazing, is an understatement. She was meant to bring babies into this world and didn’t let a little thing like a C-Section stop her from delivering her own!" Hill added on Facebook. "To watch her colleagues rally around her and make this happen was so beautiful. It was truly an honor to be there and capture this for her."
It turned out that baby Emma's birth also had a surprise connection to Grayson.
"Emma Kaye Dial was born at 11:17 a.m. weighing 7 pounds, 15 ounces. I overheard Emily say when they announced the time that the number 17 was special to them because Greyson had been born on the 17th," Hill said. "I think it was just a little reminder from him."
As both a midwife and a proud C-section mom, Dial hopes that her photos empower other women.
"I want other moms to take away from this that even though they may not physically take out their babies like this, that having C-sections can be just as empowering and a joyous experience despite their mode of delivery," Dial adds.
