There is no ᴘᴏsɪɴɢ during a birth. Birth photography is the ultimate in documentary storytelling, and there are so many aspects you can capture. It’s all about the small details, and emotions, the ᴘᴀɪɴᴇᴅ ᴇxᴘʀᴇssɪᴏɴs, the laughter between ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴs, and the emotional text messages received. The supportive partner, the shoulder massages, holding hands, and leaning on each other for support.

Thanks to the activism of women like Katie Vigos of the Empowered Birth Project, Facebook, and Instagram stopped removing posts of ᴄʜɪʟᴅʙɪʀᴛʜ and ʙʀᴇᴀsᴛꜰᴇᴇᴅɪɴɢ mothers late last year. Previously, the social media ɢɪᴀɴᴛs considered birth photos too ɢʀᴀᴘʜɪᴄ and in violation of their policies ᴀɢᴀɪɴsᴛ ɴᴜᴅɪᴛʏ. But Vigos (and the more than 23,000 people who signed her Change.org petition) believed that by ᴄᴇɴsᴏʀɪɴɢ ʙɪʀᴛʜ, the platforms were reinforcing the sʜᴀᴍᴇ, sᴛɪɢᴍᴀ ᴀɴᴅ sᴏᴄɪᴀʟ ᴛᴀʙᴏᴏ around it.

Vigos said: “You either allow birth to exist on your platform, or you don’t. The petition is representative of our much bigger ᴍɪssɪᴏɴ to empower ourselves as women—whether it’s about our ʙᴏᴅɪʟʏ ᴀᴜᴛᴏɴᴏᴍʏ, our ability to birth with informed decisions and support, ᴄᴇɴsᴏʀsʜɪᴘ ᴏꜰ ᴏᴜʀ ʙᴏᴅɪᴇs, ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇ-sᴛɪɢᴍᴀᴛɪᴢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴏꜰ ᴍᴇɴsᴛʀᴜᴀᴛɪᴏɴ.”

Today, a quick search of the hashtags #birthisbeautiful or #birthwithoutfear brings up hundreds of images of babies making their entrance into this world. We rounded up over 12 of the most stunning images of birth from some of our favorite photographers to show the power of capturing the moment.