Pressly Hall Giltner

 To Pressly Hall Giltner, photographer and mother of three-year-old Pearl, there is nothing as fundamentally spiritual as a trip down the birth canal. After becoming aware of the growing movement towards natural birth-drug-free, un-induced, and lacking the letter C-Pressly found a personal and lifelong cause.

"It's non-traditional, but it's the most traditional thing in the world," said Pressly, who notes that modern birthing procedures, especially cesarean sections, are a relatively recent development compared to thousands of years of midwifery. "I think Pearl will be happy and proud that I chose this way; a beautiful and natural passage is the biggest gift I can give her."

Pressly first learned about the benefits of natural childbirth when she met a yoga teacher and "inspired midwife" who became a close friend. This woman told her that birth is an important beginning which will impact the rest of the child's life, and she stressed the need to prepare oneself thoroughly for the event.

"It's a classic example of knowledge is power," said Pressly. "You educate yourself about what is going to happen to your body and you allow that to happen. You don't use drugs to abate the pain; you just give yourself over to the pain and let your body labor. But you have to commit to a lot of physical and mental work, and if you don't have the time and energy to take care of yourself, you can't have a natural childbirth."

Pressly witnessed a natural birth for the first time in 2002, when she shot the first of what would become a series of photographic documentations of this phenomenon. "I was high for three days after that," she remembers. "Over and over. I've been called back to this cause of midwifery."

When it came time for her own pregnancy, Pressly's plan was to have a homebirth. But as it turned out, she was so prepared for the pain that she actually waited too long to call the midwife-by the time the woman came, Pressly was already so exhausted from prolonged contractions that she had to be taken to the hospital. Nevertheless, she refused all drugs and, though she was disappointed that she couldn't give birth at home, her hospital experience was good. When little Pearl was finally in her arms, she felt an overwhelming sense of relief. "I thought I could face anything in life as long as there were no more contractions," she said. Pressly's husband, Pierce, points out that people who believe home births are unnecessarily risky are failing to realize one thing: It is possible to have a natural birth in a hospital.

"Pierce and I wanted to have an authentic child," said Pressly, who was in labor for 30 excruciating hours. "Pearl is 100 percent authentic. She's extremely bright; she's physically healthy, and I completely see and believe that she is the fruit of proper prenatal care and awareness and an arduous but authentic birth."