Giving Birth

Giving Birth

By Mary Motley Kalergis

Giving Birth is a powerful documentary portrait of one of life’s most profound passages. Photographer and oral historian Mary Motley Kalergis spent years listening to women, their partners, and birth professionals as they shared what it meant to bring a child into the world. The result is a moving collection of black-and-white photographs paired with first-person stories that illuminate the wide range of modern birth experiences-from home births attended by midwives to hospital deliveries supported by medical teams.

Kalergis’ intimate images capture the strength, vulnerability, and transformation of parents as they welcome new life. Alongside the photographs, candid voices speak about joy and fear, pain and triumph, cultural traditions, medical decisions, and the deep personal meaning of becoming a parent.

Originally published to acclaim and now presented in a beautifully crafted new edition, Giving Birth serves both as a work of documentary art and as a touchstone for expectant parents, birth workers, and anyone interested in the human story of childbirth. It celebrates the diversity of birth journeys and honors the resilience of those who undertake them.

Key features for retailers and readers

Over 50 black-and-white documentary photographs
First-person narratives from mothers, fathers, and birth professionals
Wide range of birth settings and choices, from natural to highly medicalized
An evocative resource for expectant parents, midwives, doulas, and childbirth educators

Author Biography

Mary Motley Kalergis is an author, photographer and interviewer, whose work bears witness to the bonds that connect individuals, families, and communities.Her published books include Foxhunters Speak (Derrydale Press), Considering Adoption (Atelerix Press), Love In Black & White (Dafina Books, Kensington Publishing), Charlottesville Portrait (Howell Press), Seen and Heard: Teenagers Talk About Their Lives (Stewart Tabori, & Chang), With This Ring: A Portrait of Marriage (The Chrysler Museum of Art), Home of the Brave (E.P. Dutton), Mother: A Collective Portrait (E.P. Dutton), and Giving Birth (Harper & Row.)Her photographs are featured in numerous anthologies and collections including Aperture’s Mothers and Daughters, Pantheon’s Generations, Stemmle’s In Their Mother’s Eyes, National Geographic’s Star Spangled Banner, Fawcett’s In Celebration Of Babies, and Andrews McMeel’s “Waiting for Baby, Reflections and The Enduring Circle of Love.Her work has been exhibited in museums and galleries internationally, including The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC; The Burden Gallery and the International Center of Photography in NYC; The Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia; The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virginia; the Southeast Museum of Photography in Daytona Beach, Florida; The San Antonio Museum of Art;, The Field Museum of Chicago; the Museum Fur Photographie in Stuttgart, Germany and the Diaframa Kodak Galleria in Milan, Italy.Photographs by Mary have also appeared in newspapers and magazines around the world, including The New York Times, People, Time, Newsweek, Glamour, Ladies’ Home Journal, Seventeen Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Marie Claire (France), The Guardian (London), and Camera Manuchi (Japan). Mary taught at The International Center of Photography in New York and has served as “special stills” photographer on movie sets, including Long Walk Home, and Cousin Bette.She lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, where she is currently working on her tenth book.