16th
annual

birth photography

image competition

The results are in!

The International Association of Professional Birth Photographers is proud to announce the winners of the 2026 Birth Photography Image Competition! Thank you to each and every entrant who participated this year and, of course, the families who agreed to share their birth moments with the world!

View All Entries

First
Place

– Artist

Albany Alvarez, APBP

– Image –

“Parto renacentista / Renaissance birth”

– Location –

Mexico

Albany Alvarez

Artist Website

The International Association of Professional Birth Photographers is proud to announce the winners of the 2026 Birth Photography Image Competition!

This year’s submissions are nothing short of breathtaking and powerful. Last year, we introduced Accreditation to IAPBP. We are so proud to have members from all over the world submit their work to our panel of assessors for accredition. It is a rigirous process that requires a minumum shooting period, minimum amount of births shot, and a portfolio review to acquire the title of Accredited Professional Birth Photograher (APBP) All images have been shared with the permission of the family and the photographer. Please respect their choice and copyright. Do not copy, print or save any of the images. Please share a link to this page!

Media:

If you would like to do a story on the competition please complete our Media Request Form before using or sharing any images. Images can only be shared once the form is complete. Proper credit and hyperlinks to the photographer / copyright owner are required. We will provide you with all the contact info, photographer links and watermarked / web ready images in one download. Requests for an interview or quote with our Director should be directed to me***@****************rs.com

Find a Birth Photographer or Videographer:

If you would like to find a birth photographer or videographer in your area, please visit our Artist Directory. If you are a birth photographer or videographer and would like to become a member of the IAPBP, you can find out more information on some of our membership benefits and packages on this page.

Please note: While birth is beautiful, it is also messy and real. You should expect nudity when viewing the entries. Be sure to scroll down to view all of the gorgeous entries from this year.

Judges’ Award Titles

A couple of years ago, we made changes to the structure of our categories and award titles since 2019. In addition to our returning four main categories of Birth Details, Labor, Delivery and Postpartum, we choose to continue to offer another category: Hardship & Loss. This year we have added our Members’ Choice Awards subcategories as an award and brought back Peoples’ Choice Award. We are thrilled to be awarding so many new titles for this year’s competition because experience has taught us that there was always more entrants that are deserving of recognition than there were award titles.

Below are a list of the titles we will be awarding for each main category in 2026:

Best Overall First Place
Best Overall Birth Details
Best Overall Labor
Best Overall Delivery
Best Overall Postpartum

In addition, we have added the following subcategory titles to be awarded by our judges:

Best in Birth Details: Black & White
Best in Birth Details: Documentary
Best in Birth Details: Fine Art

Best in Labor: Black & White
Best in Labor: Documentary
Best in Labor: Fine Art

Best in Delivery: Black & White
Best in Delivery: Documentary
Best in Delivery: Fine Art

Best in Postpartum: Black & White
Best in Postpartum: Documentary
Best in Postpartum: Fine Art

Members’ Choice Award Titles

Below are a list of the titles we will be awarding for each main category in 2026 awarded by our members:

Members’ Choice Best Overall
Members’ Choice Best Overall Birth Details
Members’ Choice Best Overall Labor
Members’ Choice Best Overall Delivery
Members’ Choice Best Overall Postpartum

For the first time, we have added the following subcategory titles to be awarded by our members:

Best in Birth Details: Black & White
Best in Birth Details: Documentary
Best in Birth Details: Fine Art

Best in Labor: Black & White
Best in Labor: Documentary
Best in Labor: Fine Art

Best in Delivery: Black & White
Best in Delivery: Documentary
Best in Delivery: Fine Art

Best in Postpartum: Black & White
Best in Postpartum: Documentary
Best in Postpartum: Fine Art

People’s Choice Award

For the first time in 6 years, we have added our Peoples’ Choice Award to the 2026 IAPBP Image Competition:

Best Overall
Second Place
Third Place

Continue scrolling to view all the winners from our 2026 Image Competition. Happy browsing!

2026 Judges’ Award

Overall Category Winners

Best Overall: First Place

Albany Alvarez, APBP of Albany J Alvarez Fotografia
“Parto renacentista / Renaissance birth“

Mexico

Best In Delivery

Rayke Knippers of Rayke Geboortefotografie
“In Careful Hands”

Netherlands

Best In Birth Details

Natalie Broders, APBP of Natalie Broders Photography
“The Next Push“

United States

Best In Postpartum

Natalie Broders, APBP of Natalie Broders Photography
“Welcome to the light”

United States

Best In Labor

Albany Alvarez, APBP of Albany J Alvarez Fotografia
“Parto renacentista / Renaissance birth“

Mexico

2026 Subcategory Winners

Best In Birth Details: Black & White

Natalie Broders, APBP of Natalie Broders Photography
“The Kicks I Knew“

United States

Best In Labor: Black & White

Moniek Aansorgh of Moniek Aansorgh Fotografie

“I See You I Feel You“

Netherlands

Best In Labor: Fine Art

Paulina Splechta, APBP of Paulina Splechta Birth Photography
“I choose you”

United States

Best In Delivery: Documentary

Mariann Mondragón of Mariann Mondragón
“THE BEGINNING“

Mexico

Best In Delivery: Fine Art

Nora Dalmasso, APBP of Nora Dalmasso Fotografia
““FIRST STEPS INTO LIGHT”“

Argentina

Best In Postpartum: Fine Art

Natalie Broders, APBP of Natalie Broders Photography
“Welcome to the light”

United States

Best In Birth Details: Documentary

Anastasiia Ivashchenko, APBP of Ivaphoto
“Her mirrored emotions”

Netherlands

Best In Birth Details: Fine Art

Jaleesa Koelen of Jaleesa Koelen
“Between the Realms – a Soul Still Wrapped in Silence “

Netherlands

Best In Labor: Documentary

Albany Alvarez, APBP of Albany J Alvarez Fotografia
“Parto renacentista / Renaissance birth“

Mexico

Best In Delivery: Black & White

Natalie Broders, APBP of Natalie Broders Photography
“She Cut The Cord Herself“

United States

Best In Postpartum: Black & White

Marjolein Loppies of Beauty of Birth
“Holding his babygirl for the first time“

Netherlands

Best In Postpartum: Documentary

Cynthia Van Stiphout of Cynthia’s Fotografie
born in the veil”

Netherlands

Thank you to our 2026 Competition Judges

We are thankful for the hard work of our judges, as narrowing down this year’s winners was no easy task. Winners were chosen on a point system and judged on technique, lighting, composition, emotional impact, creativity and storytelling. Judging a competition of almost 1,000 images is a large endeavor and we want to express our deepest appreciation for our judges’ time, effort, and willingness to share their talents.

Badget Text

Carmen Bridgewater

Judge

I am a wife, mother, and birth photographer from the Midwest creating provocative art below the Mason Dixon line in Texas. I draw inspiration from the diaspora – how we interact with the world around us and vice versa; how we both challenge societal views of us as well as reclaim negative stereotypes as our own. My art is boldly political and beautifully subversive.

Learn More about Carmen

Badget Text

Sara Hunter

Judge

I am an award-winning birth photographer with over six years of experience documenting birth across hospital, home, and birth-center settings, including births photographed in Haiti. I have received multiple awards for birth photography, recognized for ethical, emotionally honest storytelling and technical excellence. My experience in diverse birth environments informs a thoughtful, respectful approach to judging birth imagery.

Learn More About Sara

Badget Text

Dr. Stu Fishbein, MD

Judge

Stuart James Fischbein, MD, is a community-based obstetrician, ACOG associate, and author of Fearless Pregnancy. He has published peer-reviewed research on home birth outcomes, including studies on breech, twin, and out-of-hospital births. After completing his residency at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, Dr. Stu spent 24 years attending hospital births before serving for over a decade as a home-birth obstetrician collaborating with midwives across Southern California. Since retiring from clinical practice in 2022, he has focused on global lecturing and advocacy for breech and twin birth skills, the normalcy of physiologic birth, and informed consent. He co-hosts the weekly Birthing Instincts Podcast with midwife Blyss Young, offering evidence-based insight and reassurance to growing families.

Learn More About Dr. Stu

Badget Text

Liz Cook

Judge

With over 18 years of experience behind the camera, I’ve had the honor of capturing some of life’s most meaningful moments for families around the country. But what truly drives me isn’t just creating beautiful images—it’s building genuine connections with my clients. The heart of my work is to help you see the strength, beauty, and love that make your story uniquely yours

Learn More About Liz

Badget Text

Dana Jacobs

Judge

Dana Jacobs is an internationally acclaimed, multi-award-winning birth photographer whose work has been featured in media outlets such as HuffPost, Buzzfeed, National Geographic, and the Midwifery Matters Journal. With nearly a decade of experience, Dana has earned a stellar reputation for providing exceptional support while documenting the unfolding story of each unique birth story. She’s also been honored to be a judge in the Birth Photographer of the Year awards for the past two years.

With a background in journalism and photojournalism, Dana is a detail-oriented, composition-focused artist and storyteller. She strives to capture authentic moments of emotion and connection, portraying birth with an artistry that honors its profound and transformative nature. Recently, Dana has channeled her expertise into working within a collective model called St. Louis Birth and Baby, aiming to bring sustainability, support, and a sense of community to a career that often challenges the balance between work and life. Her core values include inclusivity, consent, bodily autonomy, community, storytelling, and artistic integrity.

Learn More About Dana

Badget Text

Stephanie Entin

Judge

Stephanie lives in Los Angeles and is a mother to two gorgeous and talented girls. She started her professional birth photography company, Little Plum Photography in 2014 and has received awards, such as, Best Birth Image in the IAPBP 2025 Competition, Birth Photographer of the Year 2024 in the Click and Company photography awards, Best Image in Category 2020 in the Voice Women’s Photography Awards, and she has been featured on the cover of the Los Angeles Times. Stephanie is also a certified birth doula for over 20 years and attends many births as a “doulatog”.

Learn More About Stephanie

Badget Text

Colleen Murtha

Judge

Colleen Murtha is an award-winning birth, motherhood, and lifestyle photographer and birth advocate based in Columbus, Ohio. With five years of documenting birth and family stories, she has been recognized as a Top 20 Birth Photographer for three consecutive years. Her work is rooted in honoring women’s power and the quiet, sacred moments that unfold in birth and motherhood.

Learn More About Colleen

Badget Text

Kathleen Amy

Judge

Kathleen Amy is a Naarm (Melbourne) and Wandong-based creative business support specialist and strategist with a trained eye for imagery and storytelling. She supports purpose-led founders to build sustainable visibility without burning themselves out, blending soulful strategy with practical systems that bring clarity and steadiness to the work.

With training in holistic doula work and birth photography, and years supporting creatives and birth-world practitioners, Kathleen is known as the steady hand behind the scenes: helping leaders move from scattered and stretched-thin to clear, supported, and consistent.

Her values include presence, discernment, and alchemy: staying close to what matters, making clean decisions, and recognising the quiet power in how a story is held and seen.

Learn More About Kathleen

Badget Text

Katie Denton

Judge

Katie Denton is a full-time mama, photographer, and world traveler whose work centers on the beauty of womanhood, family, and human connection. Serving clients across the states and around the world, she is known for her emotive, storytelling style and her ability to capture moments that feel honest, powerful, and deeply personal.

Katie’s journey into motherhood ignited a fierce passion for documenting life in its truest form. Becoming a mom transformed not only her perspective, but also her purpose as an artist. Today, her work blends creativity, empathy, and lived experience, resulting in art that resonates across cultures and seasons of life.

With a heart for adventure and a soul fueled by her craft, Katie continues to explore the world while sharing meaningful stories through her lens.

Learn More About Katie

Badget Text

Ash Davenport

Judge

Ash Davenport is a luxury wedding photographer working across the UK and internationally. His work sits quietly between documentary and editorial, rooted in observation, restraint, and emotional truth rather than performance. Blending digital with 35mm film and Super 8, Ash creates imagery that feels timeless, tactile, and deeply personal.

Alongside his photography, he is co-founder of MIKI Studios and a speaker and educator at Elevate Conference, where he shares insight on craft, longevity, and building a career with intention. Whether photographing weddings or families, his focus remains the same, to create work of substance that will outlast the moment and grow in meaning over time.

Learn More About Ash

Badget Text