If you’ve stumbled upon this blog post looking for the optimum time to have maternity photos taken - you’re most likely expecting! So first, I’d love to say a HUGE congratulations to you! ❤️
Maternity photos are a type of photo session I’ve taken on throughout the years on occasion. As a wedding photographer, some of my couples have inquired a years (or months) after their wedding date to ask me to photograph the next season of their lives… which I am always SO honored by!
Maternity photos are special for a variety of reasons. As I’m writing this blog post, I’m currently 4.5 months postpartum, and I still love to look back at our maternity photos (I had a specific vision in mind for ours, so I handed my non-photographer sister-in-law our camera and she snapped some amazing photos for us - check them out here!) Our photos remind me of that sweet (and let’s be honest, sometimes quite overwhelming) season before having a newborn, when we were preparing for our little one. The photos remind me of the anticipation, the time we had with my sister-in-law, our baby shower (which took place a few days later)… all of the above! It was such a special, once in a lifetime time. And after going through that season myself, I have a renewed love for documenting it for others!
So, we should probably get to the point of this blog post… when is the best time to have maternity photos taken?
The answer might vary from couple to couple, and definitely will vary based on any complications a mom might have in her pregnancy. For a healthy pregnancy without any known complications, I’ve found 32 weeks to be a “sweet spot” (usually the 7-8 month mark is a good way to go!).
I had my own maternity photos taken around 32.5 weeks, and boy am I glad we didn’t wait even a week longer than that. By the 33 week mark, I was waddling around and really started to feel miserable! And at 32.5 weeks, I feel like I had enough of a belly (without feeling “too big”) to be in that “cute” pregnancy stage… which is exactly what I was hoping for!
If you have known pregnancy complications that could result in an early birth, it might be a good idea to schedule your photos sooner… just in case!
