This Mom Photographed Her Own Labor and We're in Awe

24-year-old photographer Lauren Chenault photographed the birth of her second child, Kai, on [...]

By Leah Kelley

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(Photo: Facebook / You're My Focus / Lauren Chenault)

24-year-old photographer Lauren Chenault photographed the birth of her second child, Kai, on January 31, 2017.

Yes, she photographed the birth as she was giving birth — if that's not the most kick-butt thing you've ever heard, we don't know what is.

Chenault wanted to capture the birth of her first child, but reality got in the way.

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"I didn't know I was going to have to hold my legs so there was no way to do it," Chenault told TODAY.

So when she found out she was pregnant with her second child, she enlisted the help of her friends.

"I was like, 'You'll hold my leg, and you're holding the other one, and I'm taking the pictures,'" Chenault recalled. "I just think it's so cool that women can grow a human inside and then push it out," she said. "So I figured, why not have the first picture of them coming out."

Chenault had five friends with her in the delivery room, including her husband, when her 8-pound, 3-ounce son Kai Arthur was born.

"I had the camera on my chest and I just kept clicking and hoped that I got it," she said.

Since the birth was induced, Chenault had the time she needed to set up lights and chat with the nurses and doctor about the logistics of having a camera on the birthing table.

"I wasn't really looking at the camera, so I kind of got it from both (perspectives)," she said. "When I was pushing, my eyes were closed anyway, but I don't feel like I missed anything I would have if I didn't have the camera there."

The biggest surprise for Chenault? The shots actually turned out well.

"I wasn't even looking at the camera. It was just sitting there and I kept clicking," she said. "I think it's so amazing that women can do this and to be able to document it like that. It is so cool. I really hope that's what women take away from this."

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