Hello, I'm Jo Robertson, Birth Photographer and Doula at Lillian Craze Birth Photography and I'm thrilled to be the guest blogger for BabyCare Tens.

I'd love to take you through how viewing images of birth can help you when it comes to planning and preparing for your birth. For many of us, what birth looks like has been largely influenced by the media and TV.

But thanks to the growing number of incredible women and birthing people sharing their births online, this narrative is changing.

(Copyright Jo Robertson of Lillian Craze Birth Photography)

How exactly can looking at birth images help you to prepare?

When we start to look at images of labour and birth, we'll discover a wide variety of positions are being used. These will include standing, squatting, laying on your side, on all fours, leaning on a bed or a chair or holding onto your partner.

Being in an upright position or having the freedom to move will help open the pelvis and using gravity will help baby descend. Hanging off door frames, swinging your hips and even dancing is also great to try during labour. Dancing with your partner will also help to activate some oxytocin.

(Copyright Jo Robertson of Lillian Craze Birth Photography)

You'll also find images of women and birthing people using water which is a wonderful natural method of pain relief. Water provides relaxations and a feeling of weightlessness. The circle that is the pool can also create a space around the woman/birthing person.

Also, locations, where women and birthing people giving birth? Often, they are drawn towards dimly lit spaces and small spaces like the bathroom. This is usually guided by an instinct for privacy. Viewing images of birth can also help you explore pain relief methods you might like to consider, natural or medicated.

(Copyright Jo Robertson of Lillian Craze Birth Photography)

How does looking at birth help your birth partner?

I always encourage birth partners to look at birth images with you, it will help them prepare for birth too. Maybe, they’ll remember seeing images of a woman/birthing person reaching down to feel the baby's head or using a mirror. Looking at birth images will help them support you more by suggesting techniques and positions they have seen used. The more they look at birth with you, the more they’ll be able to recommend.

(Copyright Jo Robertson of Lillian Craze Birth Photography)

It's not just vaginal births and home birth images either.

There is an abundance of birth images that cover vaginal births, caesarean births, home births, hospital births, outdoor births, car births or twin births, the list is endless! My top places to look would be Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Google, and Pinterest.

Looking at images is an incredible free resource and is helping so many expectant parents learn more about birth via a visual medium. It will prepare you in so many ways.

Discover even more...

I go into this subject more on Episode 1 of My Podcast, The Adventures of a Birth Photographer. Listen Here. You can also find me on Instagram or visit my Website.

I'm also hugely passionate about birth images being used as a great educational tool. The Birth Library is a resource to use real, raw birth stock images within your birth business.

(Copyright Jo Robertson of Lillian Craze Birth Photography)