Designing a birth center? Follow these tips for stunning birth photography & client demand
Designing or redesigning a birth center? As a veteran birth photographer, I’ve worked in a variety of birth spaces - the good, great, and the absolute ugly!
The number of midwifery-led birth centers has more than doubled in the last decade and continues to grow. While alternative care options are a driving factor in this growth, in the world of social media influence, aesthetics make an impact - especially when it comes to birth photography and choosing one birth center over another.
Designing a birth center for great photographs requires a balance between functionality, comfort, and aesthetics. There are a number of simple design decisions you can make to enhance and elevate the birth photographs captured in your space.
Not only will your birth center be instagram worthy, these simple choices will turn your birth center into a dream space for both expectant parents and birth photographers.
Window light, any time of day, makes for the BEST light for birth photographs. While it does change in color temperature, it iseven and flattering. Using sheer curtains can diffuse any light that is extra bright. For the best lighting, turn off any artificial lighting and let the window light do the work.
1. Natural Light & Lighting Design
Prioritize natural light with large windows or skylights. Avoid placing skylights directly over beds and tubs, and offset windows from used places to avoid direct side light or back light. Multiple smaller windows placed high at the top of the wall creates beautiful, soft, and ethereal light while maximizing wall space and offering privacy.
Create privacy and soften natural light with sheer white curtains or frosted glass. This turns a window into a photographer's soft box. Avoid blinds as they can create stripes of light on subjects.
Use warm artificial lighting: Use dimmable, warm-toned bulbs (2700 Kelvin) to create a soft ambiance. Avoid harsh fluorescent lights.
Use the same type of bulbs for every light source. LED and tungsten bulbs have different color tones. Tungsten casts a yellow tone while LED gives off blue. Using a mix of both creates “split tone lighting” and negatively affects the color of photographs.
Multiple light sources: Incorporate wall scones, bedside lamps, fairy lights, and candles (real or LED) for intimate, cozy lighting.
Offset overhead lights from areas that need more light for provider access. Direct overhead light creates unflattering, harsh shadows.
A bank of smaller windows up high create an ethereal glow that falls over the best and floods the rood with soft light and creates an etherial glow.
2. Aesthetic & Neutral Color Palette
Choose Soft, neutral tones Whites, greiges, and soft taupes make for a calming environment and complement natural skin tones in photos. Choose paint colors with a Light Reflecting Value between 50 and 90.
Darker spaces with less natural light look dingy and shadowy. Choose a color with a higher light reflecting value and a warmer tone to brighten and add freshness to the space.
Avoid overly bright, dark, and pigmented colors Overly bright and dark colors create harsh contrasts. Light reflected off pigmented walls will cast that color onto subjects. The more pigment, the stronger the color cast.
Avoid wall colors with green and blue tones and undertones. Light reflected off these colors, no matter how light, will cast that color across the room and onto your subject.
Use magenta undertones to correct green cast from grass. Like pigmented walls, natural sunlight reflecting off grass casts a green tone into your space. Paint colors with magenta undertones will correct the green.
Choose a flat or low-sheen paint This will soften light reflected off the walls.
Avoid accent walls. The prevents color cast, minimizes contrast, and allows for seamlessness in birth photo collections.
Best soft neutral white for photographs: SW Aesthetic White, SW Pure White, BM White Dove, BM Simply White.
If you look at the wall to the far right, you’ll notice the highly-reflective, multi-blue tones. The color of the wall was actually gray, but the room featured a teal accent wall. The window and lamp light reflected that teal color off the accent wall onto the surrounding areas.
3. Thoughtful Room Layout & Space Planning for Accessibility & Flow
Provide enough space around furniture, beds, tubs, and even toilets for a photographer and the birth team to move around comfortably.
Design rooms with multiple focal points, like a cozy bed, a tub, and a comfortable seating area.
Ensure clear sightlines from different angles, avoiding clutter or obstructions.
Keep medical equipment, work areas, and midwife task lighting away from or out of the sightline of laboring spaces. (Entryways and scullery-like areas are a great solution.)
Avoid creating tight spaces or awkward angles that can limit movement and access.
Limit unnecessary or unused furniture to maximize space and accessibility.
If possible, include closet, cabinet space, or even a standing screen to tuck birth client bags and gear away from photography sightlines.
Many birth centers are working within the original layout of the building and the bathroom space can be limited. Bathrooms are often overlooked when it comes to accessiblity for the birth team. However, sometimes babies are born on the toilet. If you have the luxury to gut, prioritize space around the toilet and shower to allow access for the whole birth team.
4. Beautiful, Simple Decor
Use low-sheen, soft textiles (linen, muslin, natural cotton) for bedding.
White sheets can create harsh contrast and highlights in photographs. Lean toward soft, off-whites, pinks, grey, and beiges. Purchase colorfast options for bleachability.
Add greenery with fresh plants or flowers to bring life to photos. If you choose faux greenery, choose silk or fabric options over plastic to minimize reflected light.
Keep decor subtle and elegant. Avoid busy, loud art and wallpaper patterns that can distract in images.
Tubs are the top spot for birthing a baby. In the moment, a lot of people surround the tub all together. By placing a tub off the wall and keeping three of more sides accessible, you not only have room for the whole birth team and partners to maneuver, but also enable a variety of photography perspectives and angles during births. Whichita Falls Birth and Wellness Center has done a great job of this in most of their birth rooms. Tubs are accessible on all sides. They have also removed distracting artwork from near the tubs to allow for clean backgrounds in birth photographs.
5. Water Birth & Tub Design
A deep, freestanding tub is best for water births, whether round or oval.
Place tubs off walls for accessibility by at least three sides. Multiple people surround tubs during delivery; photographers are often an afterthought for the design of this space.
Place the tub opposite a window or soft lighting. Avoid overhead light in this area.
The biggest tub isn’t always the best. If space is limited, prioritize room for both partners and birth team access around the tub.
Choose tiles with soft, warm hues instead of stark white. Do not use color tiles. (See #2 about color cast). Use matching or soft contrast grout. High-contrast grout lines create distracting patterns.
Forego large vanities for shower, tub, and toilet accessibility. Vanities are minimally used.
6. Comfortable & Photogenic Furnishings
Include comfortable seating next to beds and stools near tubs to allow places for partners to closely engage and support comfortably but keeping partner height near to the laboring partner.
Soft, woven rugs with thick rug pads add warmth and contrast to hard floors and well as soft comfort for standing labor positions.
Limit distracting patterns for furniture and soft textiles.
Mirrors can be a big help for alternate perspectives for birth photographs. I love to use them, especially when trying to get a G-rated photo of a laboring client. That being said, they can also create an intense light reflection depending on where they are placed. I recommend placing mirors in areas where they do no face direct light or busy walls/cabinets.
7. Strategic Mirror Placement
Mirrors can reflect light and create depth in photos; however, not all mirror-reflected light is good. Limit the number of mirrors and position them away from direct light sources to minimize uncontrolled reflected light.
Position mirrors to capture multiple angles without being intrusive. This is best for areas where photographer and birth team accessibility is limited.
Avoid mirrored furniture.
Want some design help?
Are you working on the design for your birth center and would like a photographer’s input or review of your design? Get a quick, free review of your plans for you, your designer, or contractor to help you create a photogenic birth space that both expectant parents and birth photographers adore!