Photographer Hailey McNeal has shared the moving moment she captured a young mum welcoming twin boys into the world.
On Facebook, Hailey posted several arresting images she had captured of young mother Sarita giving birth to Amos and Noah, with her husband and infant boy Emerson by her side.
Hailey said: “It was peaceful and powerful”. “It took me several days to process the beauty of it all. She was so calm and gentle and kind.”
She later added: “I sent her tons of screenshots as I was doing the editing and was so happy and in love with the photos.”
In some of the endearing pictures, little Emerson steals the show by adorably kissing his mother on the forehead and cheeks to cheer her up during the more trying parts of her labor.
“There were so many sweet moments,” Hailey said. “Definitely when her son kept coming to check on her and loving of her.”
The photos depict key moments throughout Sarita’s labour, from the early hours, when she practices breathing techniques and takes a bath to ease the agony, through the twins’ arrival and the couple’s first opportunity to connect with their precious bundles of joy in the dying minutes.
Hailey also opened up about being present for the family’s milestone moment, explaining that she was “trying to find some words” to describe how special the experience felt.
“I’m afraid I’ll have to let the photos do most of the talking for me on this one, because I’m still trying to find some words that can describe the beauty I saw when Sarita brought her twins into the world,” she wrote alongside an album of the photos, posted on her official Facebook page, WildEye Photography.
“She was peace. Her husband was kind. Her son, Emerson was loving on her. I felt the Holy Spirit there. Sarita was Strong.
“She was surrounded by her birth team who was thinking of every possible detail and was so unbelievably prepared and thorough. And then Amos came!
After a long and difficult hour on January 6, Noah finally arrived on January 7! I feel tremendously blessed to have been able to document it and share the experience with them. I’m grateful, Sarita.
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