Award winning photographs from Rachel Utain-Evans in the annual International Association of Professional Birth Photographers, and thoughts on whether it’s a good idea to enter photography competitions.

You’ve heard about oxytocin, right, the “love hormone”? How it is essential for labor, and when oxytocin is flowing it can lower stress and pain for the birthing person?

Well, never had I ever seen more oxytocin flowing than at this home birth between Heidi and Kevin. The energy in their birth space was so full of love you could feel it in the air…