So how did a guy like me end up becoming an Office Manager of a birth center, as well as a Birth Photographer?  Well, it’s simple, I met an amazing woman who desired to be a midwife!  Alex and I met at work in 2004, and starting the very first night, we would spend the last hour of our shift talking and getting to know each other. Apparently, I distracted her from doing her homework (oops, my bad).  One night, we talked about our career ambitions and Alex told me she wanted to be a Midwife. Wanting to impress Alex, I acted like I knew what she was talking about. Truth be told, I had no idea what a Midwife was.  My mom had two scheduled c-sections, so I was under the belief that all moms go to the hospital to birth babies, but that night I went home and did an internet search and spent hours reading various articles and blogs about how babies can be born safely out of the hospital, and in some countries, Midwives attending a birth was a normal practice.

When Alex and I started dating, I knew where her heart was and encouraged her to go be a Midwife. I had no idea what I was getting in to.  During her first birth as a doula, I kept calling/texting her asking when she was going to be done. I thought it would only take a few hours, but I ended up not seeing her for two days! But what I saw in Alex after that birth was excitement and a passion for natural childbirth and being a part of the process of birth. I knew she had found her calling, and midwifery would be a big part of our lives.

After Alex and I were married, we wanted to start our family and there was no doubt that we would be having an out-of-hospital birth with a Midwife.  For our daughter Keira’s birth, everyone thought we were crazy for going to a birth center instead of the hospital, but I didn’t care.  I loved being involved and supporting Alex with whatever she needed through her labor, birth and postpartum, even if the tub was too small for me to get in with her. When it came time for our son Hunter to be born, Alex was in the middle of her midwifery training, and we decided that a home birth was our best choice this time.  During early labor, our Midwife suggested that we take a long walk around our neighborhood and while on our walk, her doula and I would take turns supporting her upper body through contractions while the other supported under her belly with a rebozo.  During one of her contractions, Alex began vocalizing a little more loudly, to the point where an elderly lady came out of her house and nervously asked if she should call an ambulance.  I looked right at her with a huge grin and said, ‘Nope, we’re good!  We’re just having a baby!’.  She had a puzzled look with that one!  But for me, this was normal. I was even able to get into the tub with Alex, holding and supporting her in my arms through her labor, as well as being right next to her as she birth Hunter into her arms.  

In December 2018, Alex and I decided that it would be best for our family for me to join her at full-time at Heritage Births, and take over the business, cleaning and maintenance responsibilities.  But that was only the beginning!  When our kids were born, birth photography wasn’t really a thing yet, so we had Alex’s friend snap a few pictures for us.  We’ve always regretted we didn’t have professional pictures to document our births. In 2020 we needed some marketing pictures for our website, so Alex talked to a couple of her clients who couldn’t afford birth photography, and we came up with a free trade where I was able to photograph my first few births.  The photos I captured became so popular with her other clients, they started asking Alex if they could have me photograph their births too and thus began my new endeavor into the world of birth photography.  Now, I get to offer my services to any family who would want to have a professional birth photographer at their birth. Yes, I love what I do!

When I’m not at the birth center or working Heritage tasks at home, I am a devoted husband (20-years), dad to Keira (19) and Hunter (15), and a full-time zookeeper for our 5 cats and 2 dogs.  I also enjoy house flipping with Alex, taking lifestyle, nature and aviation photos, and of course watching my beloved Dodgers or college football.  But above all that, I absolutely love working side by side with my best friend in the entire world, and I love being the ‘Husband to the Midwife’!”

~ Jeff Wyatt