Birth Photographer Captures a Girl’s Awe as She Meets Her Little Sister For the First Time

Birth photographer Maína Diniz is used to capturing the intricacies of moms' labors, but at a recent birth, she was faced with photographing not only a mom in labor and her partner, but their young daughter who was present as well. During Tatiane Bispo's home birth with her second daughter, she and her partner, João, worked through her labor together and with the birthing team before their daughter Bella Ayla joined them after school.

"What makes a woman choose to have the labor and birth at home is to be sure she will be respected in her choices about procedures that are normally done in a hospital [as a result of] protocols that don't care about the individual," Maína shared with POPSUGAR, adding in reference to Tatiane's choice to give birth to her second child at home: "In this particular case, the fact that they had their older daughter made the family choose to go through the process at home and assure all the family would be together."

When Bella got home from school, she was a little shocked to find the commotion in her home, but over time adjusted and chose to be present for the rest of the birth. "The little girl arrived from school and had her mom, dad, and all the team at her house taking care of her mom. She joined them little by little, after [the initial] surprise of meeting a crowded home. Everyone tried to make her as comfortable as possible by giving her tasks and making her also 'responsible' for the arrival of her younger sister. When we have older siblings during the labor, we prepare them by reading stories about birth and letting them now what to expect from mom, the family, and the birth itself."

Eventually, Bella's little sister Lis came into the world, and she was right by her mom's side to see it all happen! Scroll through to see all of the photos of Bella during Lis's birth.