In the meantime, I have attended dozens of deliveries. I do a maximum of two per month. You can't plan a hundred such shoots in a year. You never know when labor will start and there is no colleague I can alternate with, like a midwife. It is therefore very intense. I have experienced deliveries lasting more than 24 hours. Then, you work non-stop, without a break, and without sleep.

For the competition, I had to send in not only photos, but also documents such as customer reviews and letters of recommendation. In addition, I had to demonstrate to what extent I am involved in the profession and committed to the community of birth photographers.

That wasn't a problem for me. For example, I have been involved with others in establishing a quality mark for birth photographers in the Netherlands and Belgium, which shows hospitals that the photographer has sufficient knowledge and professionalism to attend a delivery. Of course, you shouldn't get in the way as a photographer. Several hospitals now work together with this quality mark.

In addition, I have set up a platform where Dutch-speaking birth photographers can come together. Here, people can consult and ask each other questions. There is a lot of interaction. It is meant to lift each other up a bit.

And I am also the founder of the Birth & Beyond Photography Awards. It's a photo competition for family photographers who capture motherhood with everything that goes into it. I thought it was important that there were more opportunities for birth photographers to submit their work to photo contests. As a lifestyle, fresh 48, and birth photographer, I was often left out with my genre and there was often no competition that suited me. At the Birth & Beyond Photography Awards, there is a special birth category, in addition to more common categories such as pregnancy, newborn, baby, children, and family. Motherhood should be celebrated, right?! All genres are therefore welcome: studio, portrait, fine-art, fresh 48, lifestyle, documentary, posed and un-posed photography, and more.

I hope to be able to do this work for a long time and to be able to professionalize birth photography even further. Despite the fact that standing on call is very intense, this is a wonderful job. I have grateful customers, I can be part of wonderful moments and see new life being born. It couldn't be more beautiful, right?