You have to make yourself pretty compact to hang out in mom’s belly for nine months.
A birth photographer has captured photos of newborns in the fetal position just moments after they have entered the world.
It’s a pose Marry Fermont — a birth photographer in Middelburg, Netherlands — always tries to capture in the delivery room as parents meet their little ones for the first time.
She takes pictures of the babies, still in the foetal position, to give new parents an insight into how their baby lived and grew in the womb for nine months.
For the parents, the shot was quite emotional. Since then, Fermont Fotografie’s creator has requested midwives to show new parents how their newborns appeared before delivery.
Fermont added: “You see it happening, but it’s so hard to imagine they were inside that belly for nine months. It’s just fantastic if the midwife, or the dad, can show how the baby actually fitted in there.
“When I take those pictures you kind of get an idea how the baby fitted inside.
“Most of the babies also calm down when you hold them like this, it’s very special to see.”
She finds most newborns relax and feel secure when they’re all folded up — it is, after all, a position they’ve spent nine months in. But there’s only a brief window of time before they lose the ability to curl up into a compact ball.
As for getting them in the right position? It doesn’t require any special skills. “If you hold them the right way,” they do it on their own!
Fermont explained that most parents are surprised when their child is born, thus the curiosity about how they fit in the mother’s womb for nine months is always pleasant.
Fermont’s daughter Liv was born in July, and she is Fermont’s first child. She hired her own delivery photographer and made certain to have her own version of her favorite baby photo taken.
“I was so happy that my boyfriend Denny had no trouble holding our daughter this way. It was the best moment ever and I treasure this photo,” she said.
