Giving a birth video is an act of celebration
A birth film is a glimpse into a world that few are awarded the privilege to witness, let alone participate in. The focus is you, your voice, your strength, giving birth on your terms, with your family and friends surrounding you. Zooming out, your giving birth video can contribute to changing the culture around birth as we know it.
Giving birth is a private experience insofar as it is uniquely yours, but it is also an experience shared by a large percentage of the human race, and you can decide if you want to share your story to educate, impact, build empathy and awe within our common humanity. We present the following water birth video, cesarean birth video, and home birth video as events to be celebrated, reveled, and revered.
Water birth video
Cesarean birth video
Home birth video
“The video that Wildwood made me is a work of art. It is sweet and intense and funny and perfectly captures the experience.”
Personalizing your birth video
As your birth videographer, my aim is to be as unobtrusive to your process of giving birth as possible. That could mean filming in low light so as not to disturb your cave-like atmosphere, being super mindful of your support team and not getting in anyone’s way, and backing off when necessary. I will capture as much of the experience as you would like, and these details will be discussed beforehand so that I can best respect you desires and protect your experience while capturing your profound story to share with future generations.
Giving birthing videos to our future selves
Among the many narratives that birthing people often use to describe their experience of giving birth, a common one is that it is the experience that they will remember more than any other in their lives; and another, is that they can’t remember the sequence of events, the flow of time, or at times even who was in the room or what they were doing.
Giving birth, like any mystical experience in life, is so spiritually profound, emotionally/hormonally/physically exhilarating (and exhausting) -- it takes one far beyond the limits of what they could imagine. It is utterly indescribable. It is not only a baby that is born, the birthing person is reborn as well. Giving birth... is a rite of passage.
Laboring people are not in their rational minds, they are in a deeply inward place, swimming in dreamlike, otherworldly theta and delta brainwaves - the uniquely sacred place endearingly referred to as laborland, and my goal as your Portland birth videographer is to keep you there.
Your job is to birth a human, your partner and care team’s job is to support you, and my job is to document the entire story so that you can discover the details that blurred in your memory, and relish in the magic and power of you bringing your baby into the world.
Preparing for your birth video
First we will meet prenatally so that we may get to know each other a bit, you can share your vision of your ideal birth and birth video. We will discuss details such as which shots you would be sure I get (and which you do not want). We can also discuss music choices and any other details you would like for me to know. Once your baby’s due date draws near, I will be on-call for your birth starting at 37 weeks gestation.
Birth Video Package
I will join you at your home, hospital or birthing center during active labor, and will stay up to two hours postpartum to capture the first moments with your new baby.
Your birth video will be delivered to you within six weeks in a variety of formats.
The Portland Birth Video Package is $1,495
Birth Video Plus Package
In addition to filming the birth, I will also film an interview with you and your partner/family prior to and/or after the birth...about your hopes for the birth and your new baby, or anything you would like to discuss about your family. If you have video or photos of special moments in your lives prior to baby’s arrival (for example, your wedding day or other important events, sweet shots of an older sibling playing, etc.), I can weave these pieces into the story of your birth to provide an even richer context for the birthday of your baby!
The Portland Birth Video Plus Package is $1,895.
Our Birth Videographer’s Availability
We have limited availability for birth videography sessions each month because each birth requires that we are available and on call from 38 weeks on. Please reach out to check for our most up to date availability.
Meet Vera, your Portland birth videographer
My soul’s work is that of a weaver of stories...
I began my life’s work as a documentarian over a decade ago, with an old handheld recorder, asking friends and strangers if I could record them. I am fascinated by voices and stories and the spaces in between. My blog became a vlog as I documented the landscape of my visual experience, both stunning and mundane, believing them to be equally important.
When I witnessed (and filmed) my first birth several years ago, my love for storytelling reached new heights. What could be more spectacular than capturing the sensational, albeit at times complicated, process of a new human life joining us in this world? Truly, nothing. I am passionate to my core doing this work, and count myself as one of the lucky ones that I found what I love, and I get to do it.
A few other things about me:
Live in NE Portland with my partner
Studied philosophy and applied ethics in university
Have been to Burning Man - six times
Was without an address for five years, traveling the world
