‘The energy in the delivery room was insane’: Maggie Shannon’s best photograph

‘The mothers and midwives never asked me to leave. Most of the time, they would call me over and say, “You’ve got to photograph this!”’

I hadn’t met Aquilla Flemming before I photographed her giving birth. I was sitting on my couch at home when her midwife Chemin texted to say there was a woman in labour and she had given permission for me to take pictures. It was my day off, so I hesitated at first. But as soon as I got to the birthing centre I was glad I had come.

When I arrived, Aquilla and her partner were outside, under a pepper tree. She was sitting on a birthing ball and they were holding hands. It was such a beautiful moment – the birth was special from the outset. Chemin had worked with Aquilla’s mother too, so there was this generational thing. The woman holding Storie, as the baby was called, is a student midwife. It was taken right after Storie was born. She’s still connected to the placenta – you can see the cord in the bottom of the frame.

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