For those of you who don’t know, I’m pregnant with our second child. 8 months pregnant. And wishing that I was done, but that’s another story…. I’m also a fan of midwives and birth centers. A big fan. Unfortunately with our first daughter, I went too far overdue (two and a half weeks to be precise) so I had to have her at a hospital. However, I’m giving the local birth center another chance this time and I’m hoping to have a water-birth for baby number two.

Joe and I didn’t live in Fairbanks when we had our first daughter, so I am new to the Alaska Family Health & Birth Center. I had been going to them for my prenatal care for a few months earlier this summer, when one day out of the blue, they called me. I thought I must have forgotten an appointment or needed to fill out some form, but instead, they were wondering if I could do some photography work for their new website. They needed some portraits of their staff, photos of the birth center and a bunch of “stock” imagery showing just what the midwives do at the center. I was more then happy to help, not just because I’m getting to know them pretty well, but because I really do believe in the midwifery model and want to help get the word out for them.

Over the summer, I met up with the midwives and a whole gang of volunteer models (all mom’s who feel as I do and get their care via the birth center) and I decided to make this little post to showcase some of my favorite images from the summer.

So for those of you who don’t know about the Fairbanks Alaska Family Health & Birth Center, welcome to the center! Be sure to check out their brand-spankin-new website or be their friend on Facebook.

The front office…

Jaime helping a client fill out her paperwork…

One of the exam rooms…

The ocean birth room…

The flower birth room…

This couple was on their complimentary birth center tour and were kind enough to let me snap a few pictures. If you would like to set up a free tour of the birth center, click here…

Meet the midwives! They are a pretty fun gang of gals…

This is a group shot of the midwives and the office staff…

I thought that Cori’s shirt was pretty awesome so I took a photo of it…

This mom agreed to be one of our models for a particular photo we wanted to capture, and get this — she had just had her baby ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD! As in, A FEW HOURS BEFORE this photo was taken… She gets 1 million hard-core points…

And this little cutie-patootie? Her name is Beatrice–I LOVE that name!

This little guy was only about a week old when I took this photo. He and his mom agreed to model what a water birth is like…

Listening to the baby’s heartbeat while big brother makes sure everything is going well…

And this little guy was helping to measure his new sibling…

Checking out baby’s hearing…

The birth center also offers various classes. Cheryl was teaching this class and gave me permission to pop by and snap a few photos. I LOVED my birth class (which I took while living in Anchorage) and I would highly recommend that all new moms (and dads!) attend one to get some really great tips and information…

A bit more “stock” photography for the birth center…

Thanks to all the midwives, office staff, web designer/graphic team, and the plethora of volunteer models who gave their time to help make some great photos!