February 22, 2026
Birth Location: United Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota
Birth Doula: Gather Birth Cooperative and Ale Falco of La Doula
Birth Photography:Gather Birth Cooperative with cesarean images by Ale Falco and edited by Gather Birth
Lucy sits on a hospital bed with a peaceful expression on her face. Her hands rest gently on her knees, sitting in butterfly pose, while her feet touch together. Fetal monitors are visible through the white mesh band on her belly, holding them in place. Shadows settle around the edges of the photo, with Lucy bathed in light.
Ale kneels in the center of the photo, with her hands clasped and resting under her chin. The light catches her face, which is calm as she looks forward, watching Lucy. She is framed by Meg and Lucy, both facing away from the camera. Meg’s hand is reaching out, touching down’ Lucy’s back.
Lucy is seen from the side, hands on her knees, while she sits in a hospital bed. Ale sits sideways on the bottom of the bed, which is lower than Lucy. Ale’s hands are gently pressing Lucy’s shoulders away from her ears, while she looks intently at Lucy’s face.
A phone sits in the center of the image, the screen lit up with Lucy’s birth playlist. The phone is just visible through a triangle-shaped gap between two people’s shoulders.
Lucy sits in a hospital bed with her phone resting on her knee. Her sister Rose is standing to her left, arms draping around Lucy to keep her relaxed during a contraction. Ale’s back is to the camera as she sits on the bottom of the bed, holding Lucy’s feet to ground her. The lights in the room are low.
Lucy sits backwards on the toilet, resting her face into a pillow that sits on the back of the tank. Meg is standing behind her, staring down and her while she rubs her shoulders. Ale’s back is to the camera as she kneels in front of Lucy, looking patiently up at her. A bright spot of light comes down from the top of the photo, spotlighting the trio.
A close up image of Meg’s gentle and grounding hand. Her fingers are flexed on Lucy’s shoulder. Lucy’s dark curls fall down her shoulders, gently settling on Meg’s fingers. Hazy in the background, Lucy’s hand can be seen gripping a metal hand rail.
The camera is lined up with Ale’s shoulder, as she reaches forward to press a cool cloth to Lucy’s head. The point of view hazy in the foreground, getting clearer toward Ale’s hand and Lucy’s forehead. They’re sitting together in a bright bathroom as Lucy leans backward on the toilet through a contraction.
Meg and Rose are in the center of the photo, Rose’s hand resting on Meg’s shoulder. They both look down out Lucy, who is framed by their bodies. Lucy rests backwards on the toilet. Ale stands off to the right, with her arm outstretched to hold a cool cloth to Lucy’s head. Lucy is gripping the handrail with both hands.
Meg and Lucy are seen waist-up from the side, as Meg leans forward over Lucy to hug her, her face obscured by Lucy, who is smiling. Lucy is facing backward on the toilet, her hands gripping the handrail on either side of a pillow, which rests on the back of the toilet tank. Ale’s blurry shoulder can be seen in the bottom right corner of the photo.
Lucy is in the center of the photo, her eyes closed as she rests her head on a pillow lying on the edge of the bathtub. Her hand grips a handrail attached to the side of the tub. Lucy’s head and hand are framed by the outline of a nurse’s side and arm. The nurse’s arm is wrapped in a clear, plastic glove, which reaches to her shoulder.
Janine, Ale, and a nurse rest their elbows on the edge of a bathtub, as the look toward Lucy, their backs to the camera. A large blue peanut-shaped birth ball can be seen, supporting Lucy’s position in the tub. While Lucy isn’t visible in the image, her support team’s focus is completely on her. The bright light of the bathroom spotlights the tub, casting shadows on the team’s backs.
Janine’s back is to the camera as she leans against the bathroom door frame, peering in toward Meg, Ale, and Lucy. Meg is kneeling on her heals, facing the tub, while Ale leans over the tub to make adjustments for Lucy’s comfort. Lucy is hidden behind her team, resting in the tub. The bathroom is bright with light, while the room outside is dark, making a shadowy frame around the center of the image.
Lucy is in the center of the image, eyes closed, dark curls pulled away from her face. She rests her chin on a towel hanging over the edge of the bathtub, her left arm dangling over the side. Meg reaches her right arm around Lucy to grab the left side of her face, while she places a kiss to her right temple.
Janine’s hand gently touches Lucy’s brow during a contraction, a detailed and close image. Lucy’s damp, dark curls form ringlets around her face, as she leans forward and rests her face on a towel resting on the edge of the bathtub. Meg’s hand hold’s Lucy’s, her arm visible around Lucy’s back, and her face just out of frame.
Lucy, Meg, her nurse midwife Katie, and Janine are seen from above. Lucy is draped over the side of the bathtub, focusing during a contraction. Meg is on her right, kneeling and rubbing Lucy’s back after adjusting a cool towel on her neck. Her nurse midwife Katie kneels in front of her, reaching out to hold her hand that is gripping the edge of the tub. Janine rests her arms on the edge of the tub, bringing her arm to support Lucy’s left elbow. Everyone is focused on the work at hand.
There are many busy bodies attending to Lucy, who sits in the tub and is shielded by their work. Meg, with her back to the camera, kneels while reaching to Lucy. Janine stands, bent over the tub to press on Lucy’s back during a contraction. Ale squats beside the tub, back to the camera and focused on Lucy. Rose, mostly hidden by Ale, reaches her hand out to her sister to provide support. The light from above casts moody shadows on the focused team.
Gina is reflected taking a picture in the bathroom mirror, off to the right edge of the photograph. In the left edge of the image, Meg can be seen rubbing Lucy’s back as she sits backwards on the toilet, draped in a warm blanket, and gripping the hand rail. Ale is in the foreground looking up at Lucy, providing calming reassurance.
Janine stands outside the bathroom, the dark birth room casting her in shadow on the right side of the image. She has her hand relaxed at her hip as she looks into the bathroom. Lucy stands framed by the doorway, facing the wall during a contraction. Meg adjusts the large, white blanket over Lucy’s shoulders as she stands by her left side. Ale is kneeling before Lucy, her hans on Lucy’s hips as she provides counter pressure. The only light present is what floods out of the bathroom.
A black and white image shows Janine peering into the doorway from the birth room. Meg stands by Lucy, who is facing the wall, with her arms on Lucy’s shoulders. Ale kneels behind Lucy, squeezing her hips. To the left of the door, nurse midwife Katie sits against the wall on a chair, with her legs crossed, patiently waiting.
Lucy is draped in a blanket and sits on a hospital bed, her head bowed. Ale stands in front of her, her right arm on her shoulder, her head bent and forehead touched to Lucy’s. Meg stands to Lucy’s left, rubbing her back and focusing on her daughter. The light in the room is moody, but the three women are illuminated.
A wide image of Lucy, draped in a white blanket, sitting on a hospital bed, her head bowed forward. Ale kneels in bed with Lucy, her right arm around her and head on Lucy’s shoulder as she whispers to her. Behind them, nurse midwife Katie, Meg, Rose, and Janine all look on. The room is dark, but soft light illuminates the group. The foreground includes a small table with labor essentials: wash clothes, a water bottle, and a bright blue emesis bag.
A black and white image of Lucy sitting in a hospital bed, draped in a white blanket and facing the camera, her legs in a criss/cross position. Gina leans on the bed in front of her, her back to the camera as she speaks with her. Light illuminates the pair from the left side of the photo, while the right side falls into shadow.
A close image of Beatrice in Lucy’s belly. The bottom half of Lucy’s face is shown, while the main focus is a pregnant belly wrapped in blankets. Two fetal monitor straps cross her belly, one light pink and the other light blue. Her belly is illuminated by light on the left side of the image, turning to shadows on the right.
Lucy lays on her side with her back to the camera, facing Meg. Meg leans over her daughter, one arm reaching up into Lucy’s dark curls, while the other wraps around the rub her back and hold her close. She looks lovingly down at her daughter. The lights are low and peaceful.
A black and white image of Meg curled over Lucy, who is on her side with her back to the camera. Meg’s hand is on Lucy’s back, while her other hand cards through Lucy’s curls, meeting the touch of Rose’s hand, who stands above Lucy to the left.
Meg is captured looking at the midwives, her face framed by the long handle opening of a hospital bed.
Meg holds her daughter with both arms as she stands over her. Lucy lays in bed with her back to the camera, while Ale leans in from the right side of the image to place her palms on Lucy’s lower back. Rose stands over, watching Lucy from the left. Nurse Caryn stands on Meg’s left, her hands rubbing Lucy’s upper thigh, which is covered by a blanket.
A profile image of Meg looking down at her daughter as she holds her close. Her right arm wraps around Lucy’s head, her fingers loosely holding her hair. She looks down with gentle confidence, while her left hand is splayed firmly across Lucy’s back. Lucy is on her side, facing away from the camera, and tucked into her mother’s embrace. The light illuminates the mother and child, while shadows cast the background in darkness.
A black and white image focuses on Ale, sitting sideways on the bottom of a hospital bed, using both fists to press into Lucy’s sits bones. Lucy is draped in a large white blanket, on hands and knees and she copes through a contraction. Nurse Caryn’s back is to the camera, as she reaches over to rub Lucy’s arm. Meg stands on Lucy’s other side, staring down at her daughter, her left arm draped over Lucy’s shoulder. The background of the image is cast in shadow, while the team is highlighted in light.
Janine is the the focus, at the center of the image. Her hands are covered in purple nitrate gloves as she presses against Lucy’s sits bones. Her head is bowed, focused on the work at hand. Ale rests on the end of the bed behind Janine, her arm resting on Lucy’s lower back. Meg is in the background, hands on Lucy’s upper back, focused on Janine’s work.
The image is taken from the head of Lucy’s bed, where she rests on her hands and knees during a contraction. Her body is covered in a white blanket. Janine is at the bottom of the hospital bed, pressing on Lucy’s sits bones, while Ale sits beside her, looking over to the work Janine is doing. Meg stands to Lucy’s right, looking down at Janine. Nurse Caryn is in the foreground of the picture, her focus on Lucy at the head of the bed.
A close-up image of Lucy’s hands gripping both sides of a bed sheet, which has been looped around the hospital headboard, to be used for resistance. There are deep shadows to the left of the image, cast down over Lucy’s hands, with light highlighting the right side of the picture.
A black and white image of Lucy from the chest up, in between contractions. A white blanket slips from her shoulders. Her head is cast down, eyes closed and resting. The hard work is clear through her mussed curls. A single ringlet falls in front of her face. The light from the left side of the image highlights Lucy, while the right side recedes into shadow.
Lucy is at the center of the image, wrapped in a blanket, brow furrowed and mouth open as she moves through a contraction. Curls fall in front of her eyes. Janine’s arms reach in from the left side of the image, wrapping around Lucy’s back and shoulder. To Lucy’s left, Meg sits next to her, one arm around Lucy’s back, eyes downcast as she holds quiet space for her daughter. Nurse Caryn stands in the back left of the image, her brows scrunched and focused on Lucy during her contraction.
A black and white image of Lucy’s chest, belly, and legs as she lays on her side on a hospital bed. A large white blanket covers her chest, her belly just peeking out. Two fetal monitors are strapped to Lucy’s belly and a small plastic lead crosses her stomach up toward the blood pressure cuff on Lucy’s left arm. Lucy’s hand rests on top of her left leg, while nurse Caryn’s arm reaches in from the foreground to adjust the bottom fetal monitor on Lucy’s belly.
An overhead, close-up image of the multi-colored blood vials in a tray. There are several lines of vials with green, orange, purple, and magenta lids, like a medical honeycomb.
A black and white image of Lucy lying on her back on an operating table. Her chest and head are visible, while the rest of her body is hidden behind a drape. She is wearing a surgical cap on her head, a blanket covering her up to her chin. She has heart leads attached to her shoulders. Meg sits to her left, in a surgical outfit, hat and mask, with her back to the camera, looking down at Lucy.
An infant warmer is at the center of the image. Beatrice is wrapped in blankets in the warmer, a nurse in surgical gear gently wiping her off. Rose and Meg look down at the warmer with awe at Beatrice. Blurry surgical pumps frame the right side of the image.
An overhead image of Beatrice in an infant warmer. Beatrice is perfectly pink, naked, and lying with her right leg crossing over her left, small toes flexed. Four nurses wear striped yellow gowns, hands cover in purple nitrate gloves. Their hands rest comfortably on the edge of the warmer. One nurse gently feels Beatrice’s cranial bones.
An overhead image of Lucy and Beatrice’s first meeting. A nurse’s gloved hands reach in from the left of the image, placing Beatrice on Lucy’s chest, touching their cheeks together. Lucy smiles softly. Beatrice wears a pink and blue striped infant hat on her head.
An overhead image of Beatrice and Lucy. Meg reaches in from the right side of the photo, helping to place Lucy’s hand on Beatrice’s face, while using her other hand to hold Beatrice to Lucy’s chest. Lucy’s smile lights up her face.
Beatrice reaches with both hands to touch Lucy’s lips, who receives the touch with a smile. Lucy’s arm wraps under a white blanket with blue and pink stripes, holding Beatrice to her chest. Meg leans over Lucy’s head, helping to hold Beatrice to Lucy’s chest.
Lucy is at the center of the image, peace and calm across her face. Her newborn daughter Beatrice is held to her chest, her small hand resting on Lucy’s face. Meg rest her arms on the operating table, helping to hold Beatrice to Lucy, one hand coming up to her own face to wipe a tear. The surgical drape rests overhead like a bright blue sky.
A close-up portrait of Lucy’s face. She is calm, eyes closed, as she tilts her cheek to the left. Her hand is clasped around Beatrice’s chest, whose hand is holding Lucy’s cheek. Beatrice is bundled in newborn blankets, but looks with open eyes toward her mother.
Three generations of women are pictured in an operating room. Meg, a new grandmother, looks at her daughter and granddaughter, a loving hand placed on Lucy’s shoulder. Lucy rests calmly, a hand on Beatrice’s small body, as the youngest of the three rests with peacefully closed eyes. The blue surgical drape tents the three women in their own world.
