Dawn shared this photo on Facebook in color and in black and white. Facebook keeps removing it. It’s is amazing! Look at baby’s little hands reaching up as if to say, ‘Here I am Mommy’!
For those who are complaining about the coloring, here it is in black and white. Facebook also removed it like this! I love how ‘raw’ the color picture is and how precious the black and white is. It’s just an amazing birth picture all around!
Recommended Reading
The Birth of Sicily Rose {Postpartum Hemorrhage, Vanishing Twin Syndrome}
Dorian’s Birth Story
Birth Of Elsie {Homebirth Story With Siblings}
My Fearless Birth {Home birth turned hospital}
Welcome Caio {Costa Rica Water Birth}
Resting & Soaking in Brand New Baby Cleo- My Final Birth Story
- Veda’s Birth Story
A 45 Minute Home Water Birth
A Beautiful Family Home Birth/Baby Caught by Grandmother {Graphic Emergence Photos}
107 Comments
Jen
That is so beautiful!
Macha
I guess if you don’t know it’s a birth photo … it does kinda look like the baby is being drowned.
… that was my attempt to assume the best of people. But seriously, what the h? There’s not even any “nudity” showing!
LHJ
It’s a cool picture but the selective coloring is quite awful.. makes the baby look dead. How amazing though!!
Mrs. BWF
Many babies are purple when born!
Jen
Good to know. Since I havent had a child yet and if this happened to me i would freak out for a sec. lol. This is why i learn now. 🙂
Midwife{ology}
There is no selective coloring….
AVC
I have to concur … the coloring would have been a lot better in reverse. My first thought was how ghastly that baby’s color looked, too.
Midwife{ology}
But the baby is *not* selectively colored…. That is the true color of that baby…
AVC
I assumed it was, because the post starts out “Dawn shared this photo on Facebook in color and in black and white.”
rachel loth
babies dont turn pink until they breathe oxygen. that is a perfectly normal color for a baby who hasnt breathed yet.
whitney
haha, really and truly, there is no selective coloring! my son was this exact color when he was born. mrs. BFW is right, many babies are born this color, especially babies of latin or native american descent (like my son).
Jen
Even better to know, as my Fiancee is Spanish from New Mexico. Thanks Whitney!
Kimmie
This is exactly how my babies looked when they were born! They just are not covered in blood and stuff then rushed away to be cleaned and breathe first. I adore the first picts of my babies and think this is beautiful.
Adi C Misigoy
Beautiful! I don’t understand why it would be censored! It doesn’t even show anything! Even if it did it is her right to share it! So frustrating!
nicole
that is amazing! you have to remember, you probably have a room full of 20-somethings that work at facebook. they really probably don’t have a clue how beautiful this is.
Bread
Come on, that type of generalizing is supposedly what sets us apart from ‘them’. As a 20-something, I’m pretty disappointed in this post. And I know I’m not only speaking for myself when I say this.
Moti
Hey… don’t knock the 20-somethings… I’ve met 30-50-something’s who are much more hateful and contemptual toward natural living and birthing. It’s actually the 20-somethings that I’ve found are more open to these things!
Heather
Seriously… i’m a 20-something and I think this is such a beautiful picture! In my experience as a health coach… it’s the 30’s and up that won’t listen!
Aislynn
I agree that 20 somethings in general are more open to natural living, but as a 20-something whose friends as a majority are still childless, as many young, hip, computer-oriented people such as the FB staff are, I do imagine them freaking out over this picture.
Joelynn
I’m a 20-something and I love this picture – it’s beautiful on so many levels. I don’t think that there is any age limit on narrow minds.
Meghan
I love this picture too, but mostly I wanted to tell you that my daughter’s name is Aislinn. 🙂
Dawn
Let’s just leave the ageism out of the conversation all together. I’m 32 with a 6 month old and these ears are wide open and listening. This is a beautiful image.
Let’s not focus on the age of the person but on their upbringing and environmental influences. Don’t blame, judge or push aside… EDUCATE!
Katie
I’m a 20 year old doula. Not even twenty something… Just 20 🙂
Kasey
Hey I’m “just 20” too. And this pic is beautiful. I am also going to be training to be a birth assistant. 😉
Diana
I’m 28, mother of 3…..and a birth junkie! 🙂 Cool photo!
Viv
I’m 19. I think this photo is beautiful. age has NOTHING to do with it.
chantel
Im 17 and i agree its not an age thing its what people know. you have to open your mind research and create your own ideas about birth. but seriously i love this picture! hope i can get an amazing picture like this
nicole
Beautiful! great job momma!
Jen C.
Love this!!! I cant fathom for the life of me why this amazing photo of LIFE could be deemed offensive!!!! Its so amazing!!!!
Becky
I think it is amazing and so I just shared it on my facebook!! AHHAHAHA Take that Facebook!!!
alex
Wow! This is amazing!!
IMO, the people at FB have way too many photos that end up getting flagged and censored for human eyes to actually review them all. When this was removed, I doubt a FB employee actually looked at it. There’s probably an automated system that removes photos when they are flagged a specific amount of time. As much as I hate when beautiful photos like this are removed, they just need a better censoring system.
Annemarie
i believe you are right
Bread
Can’t Dawn email Facebook headquarters and find out why exactly they keep taking it down? I can understand the ones with nudity (even if I disagree with it), but there’s NO reason this should be taken down from there.
Monika
This is a gorgeous picture! I cannot believe they keep removing this!
Desiree Fawn
AWESOME birth pic, I think it’s fab! 🙂
Erika
Those that think the coloring is “selective” in the color photo… babies are born with a waxy coating on their skin called vernix. It’s color is white. Babies are naturally more pale before they take their first breath. That coupled with the vernix on their skin makes the baby look pale. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernix_caseosa
MyEducatedBirth
Typically an at-term baby won’t have vernix, actually. Vernix sheds, they ingest, and you get to change those icky meconium diapers!
Stephanie Soderblom
I assure you…even at term babies can very often be born with tons of vernix. and meconium is not from vernix….
Cindy
My bub was born, at term, spontaneously, and absolutely covered in vernix – so much so, my midwife commented that she could have easily gone another 2 or more weeks, quite happily, in the womb!
Sam Mulder
This baby looks term with no vernix at all…a fetus’ oxygen saturation is between 30-70%, which is all they need. This makes them bluish-purple until fully oxygenating the blood with respiration. This is a BEAUTIFUL and real picture of the pre-breath newborn emerging. Just stunning!!!!
Ginna
I have had issues too when I post births or deliveries even ones that don’t show any nudity in them getting flagged for adult content… I even posted a breastfeeding one that showed “gasp” a NIPPLE that was flagged
Mindie
Funny how such natural/normal thing gets removed, yet my bf just finished doing work for someone on their website (making updates, changes etc) and it was a hentia porn site were all the videos you could watch were actually linked back to Facebook… Yup you read that right, Facebook was HOSTING the videos. For those who don’t know what Hentia Porn is… it is Japanese animations many of which involve rape and other sexual abuses… (My bf didn’t know this until I pointed it out to him as all the videos were in Japanese and he hadn’t actually watched any of them)… My BF showed me the back link to facebook (and Facebook’s logo was on every video “Hosted by Facebook”) Go figure….
Mrs. BWF
I am speechless. Wow. Very disturbing and sad.
Mindie
I know, I was very surprised. When I seen the player link for one of the videos it had the Facebook logo plastered in big letters on it, I was like “Is that video from facebook?” my Bf was like “Ya it is, look here” and he showed me the link back. Apparently people do this all the time, they upload the videos to facebook so that they don’t have to pay for database space and then do a link back to the profile that the video is at.
I was like are you serious… Facebook allows people to upload and host Porn on their profiles, and yet Facebook removes pictures of birth, breastfeeding and in my case a video of my son in a diaper (he had just learned to sit up from being on his belly and I wanted to share his technique with family, My video didn’t even make it past Processing and they deleted it 3 times).
I tried to find the profile lastnight that the Hentia porn is on, but apparently it must be hidden…
Pretty sad… but I guess Facebook doesn’t make money off our natural normal life experiences like they do with this stuff.
Anyways, Thank you for your site and your page! I have learned so much and already know what I want for my next birth (ttc now).
Shelley
BEAUTIFUL picture!
I love it!
Thanks so much for sharing!
All 3 of my babies were this colour when they first came out too, and naturally they started to pink up when I brought them to my breast.
Beautiful photos like this brighten my day!
Congratulations to the birthing mother and her family!
Alicia
Some one just posted a photo that has been going around fb for some time. It is of a women sitting in a chair in a pair and jeans and nothing else. She is displaying her 44 K’s Yet we find nursing and birth pictures worthy of censorship. Man sad state of society.
Satania
I can’t believe there is a woman alive today who thinks babies are born ‘cute and pink’… They do realise the movies aren’t real, don’t they?
kat
both my babies were born at home in a birthpool and both were pink whilst still swimming around under the water!
they were both given apagar scores of 10…
mine were born “cute and pink” as you say, so you can’t generalise just on your experiences either!
Kali Park
My daughter was born pink and purely gorgeous. But my son looked like a squished purple goofball and I’ve seen lots of births and all different colors at birth! 🙂
AVC
All three of my babies were plenty pink when they were born. Cute — well, in my eyes, at least! 🙂
MyEducatedBirth
Mine were both pink, too, and of course they were adorable! My son was M.A.D. My daughter just acted like we had ruined her life. At 18 months, when she suffers an injustice, she throws her hand over her mouth and sobs, and then runs to cling to someone while covering her mouth and crying – and I swear, she looks just like she did the second she was born. My kids were both instant personality.
Melissa
I love it! I wish I had a photo of my babies being born. So amazing.
Alison Snyder
We as a culture have become sterile and sanitized. We buy chicken wrapped in plastic wrap, we have a toy sand box image of war, and we no longer marvel at the miraculous. We should be awestruck at the sight of such an image!
Suzanne
I’ll never forget the instructor for my doula training saying that babies look like slimy smurfs when they come out. What an amazing, realistic picture!
Angela Comer
Beautiful pic. I think most moms don’t see their babies at this color because of the average mother’s perspective and the massive handling of birth. There is so much going on and OBs/MWs still cut the cord pretty quick and if mom is lying on her back without a mirror she may only see baby after it pinks up. Anyway the kid looks beautiful to me, all of my four were purple, and some of the stuff I’ve seen tagged on FB is even more modest than this. Also I am a twenty-something too, though I am getting close to thirty.
Ayelet
love love love this picture! thank you for sharing!
Maakarita
Naturally beautiful and it is a precious, momentous occasion being shared with the world by this mama and family we are blessed to share in the joy of this birth when there is so much pain, murdering and suffering going on in the world – what is wrong with Facebook censorship control? I’ve seen many other inappropriate behaviours go on here on FB – come on work it out already!!!
Ameena Falchetto (MummyinProvence)
WOW! That is INCREDIBLE!!!
RedPowerLady
Amazing photo. Both are beautiful, the b&w really speaks to me, absolutely adore it.
My guess is one of the mum’s fb friends is flagging her pic and fb autobots are taking it down. We’ve argued with fb creators about the bots and about keeping up bf’ing pics, unfortunately their views are limited.
Claire
I think a lot of misunderstanding of the colour of really new newborns comes from doctors clamping and cutting cords, and making sure bub is breathing properly, before Mum getting to hold them. By the time they are 1 minute old, if they have a great APGAR score, they are most probably pink. http://www.birth.com.au/Baby-soon-after-birth/The-Apgar-score?p=2
Also, tv and movies don’t help with their portrayal of babies being born – seeing as they are NEVER newborns!
Sarah
The color photo i amazing! What a great picture to share. I love it!
Love4Sha
Absolutely BEAUTIFUL moment and no need to be censored at all! Great job mama!
Seajay
Those little hands!
What a great photo!
Gina
I think it’s an awesome picture and don’t see any reason why it should be flagged on Facebook. Congratulations to the new parents!!!
Crystal
What an absolutely beautiful picture. Most people dont really know what a baby looks like when it is born. The opportunity for mothers to see their babies in such a beautiful and natural state is not common, although I am glad to see a growing population of women who are speaking up and standing firm in their choice to birth naturally! Blessings to you and your family!
Kylee Stef
I’ve had a son die in my arms and purple is not what a dead baby looks like. Purple doesn’t even begin to describe it. This color, while freaking some people out, is not a lifeless color. This baby is full of life.
Mrs. BWF
Oh Kylee, I am so sorry for your loss. 🙁 (((hugs)))
Wendy
I’m so sorry. No one should have to go through that.
Melissa
So… I’m a 20-something.. and a doula…. and i love this picture.. and it is beautiful and of course babies are born that color…. and I’m a mother.. and my baby came out pink… and I am not in a movie…. and my baby was born at 42ish weeks (maybe 43) and she had NO vernix left… Umm.. I guess I just want to finish by saying that EVERY BIRTH AND EVERY BABY IS UNIQUE AND ATTEMPTING TO STATE THAT ANY ONE THING IS THE WAY IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE IS RIDICULOUS as with all things in life.. k, LOVE to ya’ll <3
Melissa
I guess I wanted to add.. I had my baby at home with nooooo interventions of any sort and we did a lotus birth.. just to add to the whole pink thing…
renee
what a beautiful pic!wow..i am 25yrs old and preg.with no.5 😀
Matt
Gorgeuos photo of a natural event. What was their reasoning for removing … it is not exploitative, obscene or pornographic. Must be someome who hasnt experienced or seen a birth…
Jani
What most people don’t realise is that FB ‘scans’ photos with their software – so there is not a real person looking at them at all. The scan detects the % of skin showing, and if it’s over their guidelines for ‘nudity’, it gets removed. While I agree that this is an amazing photo, FB has rules for a reason – to protect people’s privacy, and everyone agrees to the user agreement which specifies what photos you can and cannot upload.
No, I do not work for Facebook. I just have a friend in a photography business (maternity / newborns) so she knows all about it.
Ophelia
While I want to agree with you Jani, they also must be doing something else because they removed an impressionist painting done in blue tones that really showed nothing & certainly wasn’t realism the represented breastfeeding from MY profile 3 times. I think they scan for the words too. It would be fine until the minute someone made a comment with the word nursing or breastfeeding & then it would vanish. FB is really really strange when it comes to this topic. Almost to what I consider a bizarre level.
kim owen
think this picture is truly amazing! the baby’s hands reaching up like that are so cute, i am blown away by this picture – its just so real and natural. realy lovely!
Rae
I love it, cause the baby is like “TADAA! Here I am, World!”
My only though about the coloring was that in both pictures, the baby is nearly the same color, lol.
Rachelle
What a simply amazing picture… I think like most big websites Facebook like to only have displayed what they think most people will enjoy… my problem with that, and I’m sure everyone will agree, is I would rather see a picture like this rather than the other pics, videos and apps that are up there… an it is definitely not colour censored… my dd came out a mild purple colour, especially her extremities which were a dark bluish purple, and a very thick, slippery coating of vernix… so slippery in fact the first skin to skin moment I was afraid she was going to slip out of my arms…
Wendy
This is a gorgeous picture! My son’s waterbirth he came out somewhat similar, but I don’t think we got that exact moment, reaching like this. This makes me want to go back and watch my birth video and look at all the pic’s again. I LOVE it!!!
Anna-Marie
What an awesome picture!! I have NO idea what my daughter looked like in her birth as it all happened so fast, no pics were taken (15mins from in water to born hehe) But this is an amazing photo!! Absolutely love it,thanks so much for sharing =)
Lisa Johnson
I’m a pregnant almost 42 yr old who was open minded about natural birthing with my 1st born at the age of 22 and has never stopped embracing living as close to mother nature as possible. I would say the older I have gotten the closer to Mother Earth I have become… What a beautiful photo! 🙂
April Gideon
Holy Smokes!!! That is an AMAZING picture!!!!
Doula Sandra Fraser
I’ll post it a few times on FB for ya 😉 it’s a beautiful photo!
Jess
No offense, but I’m kind of baffled that someone would assume that the top photo was “selectively colored” LOL. I mean, how incredibly bizarre would it be to selectively color everything in a photo EXCEPT the focal point (which I assume in most birth photos is the baby)? Do they really think someone would selectively color every single detail including the midwives’/assistants’ gloves, and not the baby? Of course it’s a full color photo!
Neither of mine were BORN pink, but my first pinked up very quickyl (within seconds.) My second was mewing and making sweet baby sounds before her shoulders even emerged, and yet she reamined purply in color for several minutes. And our midwife even joked about giving my *purple baby* an Apgar of 13 because she was so alert and responsive! It’s a VERY normal color for a lively, healthy newborn baby. As is pink. Or even a bit blue-ish. Now grayish or stark white? THOSE are scary colors. Purple? That’s a great newborn color!
And this a great photo.
Kellan
My youngest sis came out even darker than this – the child was so purple she looked almost black. After she got to breathing, she turned white, then pink. Hers was the first birth I had ever witnessed, so it scared me to see her so dark at first. My nephew, Toby, came out looking more like a doll…kinda grayish, but not very dark.
Anyway, i LOVE these pics! Both send unique messages, but I like the b&w one the best. Those hands just say, “Mama, in case you haven’t noticed, here I am! Come get me already.”
kaylynn
My daughter I half mexican and that was her color. Beautiful raw pic!
Mrs Mac
I must admit, as amazing as the picture is, It made me feel a little startled at the colour of not only the head, but the hands too. Looks very surreal. After my babies were born I recall them all being very pink – and this is only after TWO pushes mind. So maybe the more the Mother has to push, the more the baby loses colour? I’m not sure. It’s just something I have never seen, from my own personal experience.
Mrs. BWF
If you read the comments you will see this coloring is normal. 🙂
KH_Photos
From a birth photographer’s perspective, the color version is so much more striking! ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL contrast…and not to mention the composition. OMG…those little hand reaching high for mama! What a blessing to have such a beautiful first photo of your child!