This viral photo of a mom giving birth in a hospital hallway shows the true strength of women

This story was originally published on February 09, 2018

On July 24th, 2017, Jes Hogan of Kansas gave birth to her sixth child—her first boy, named Maxwell. Everything went just as you would hope—amazing mama, healthy baby, an excellent medical team and Kansas Birth Photographer Tammy Karin there to capture it all.

The only thing was that little Max was born on the floor in the emergency room hallway.

Jes’s labor started off slowly—she went to the hospital for an assessment but eventually went home, since her labor wasn’t progressing. She stayed home in early labor for a few more days, going to the pool, walking and generally being awesome.

And then in the middle of the night, she suddenly had one contraction that felt different, followed quickly by her water breaking. From that point on, her contractions were much more frequent and intense. In her birth story on Little Leapling Photography’s website, she tells us that she looked at her husband, Travis, and said, “Oh God, we’re not going to make it. We are going to have this baby at home.”

But they did make it, as did their photographer, Tammy, who “rushed through the doors ahead of [them] to alert the front desk that [she] was, in fact, having this baby right now.”

As soon as Jes got inside, she could feel her body instinctively bearing down.

“I looked at my husband and said, ‘Travis catch him!'” Jes reports. “Without any hesitation, he did just that as I felt my body involuntarily pushing his head the rest of the way out. At that moment Tammy [the photographer] began snapping away! Then the nurses came rushing down the hall. It was a blur at this point—they reached us, helped me lay down just as my body began to push again.

“…He arrived on the floor just inside the entrance of the emergency room at 3:38 am. Less than 25 minutes from the time my water broke at home, and only a few moments after we stepped inside the hospital.”

Jes, Travis, Max and his five big sisters are doing well, and we imagine still wrapping their minds around what happened!

We reached out to the fast-acting birth photographer, Tammy Karin, who shared, “I have followed my heart and feel very passionately about sharing the beauty of birth and connecting with women as their birth stories are written. This is a very difficult gig that requires an incredible amount of time, energy, patience and compassion. But, it is worth it.

“I get to capture women at their strongest and men when they are most in love. And what a gift to be able to provide proof to women that they were simply stunning after they felt like such a disheveled mess. I cherish the few images I have from the births of my children more than any others, and I look forward to creating those priceless treasures for families for many years to come.”

Jes and her family are beyond grateful for Tammy. She wrote, “Without her, I don’t think we would have gotten help from the nurses just in the nick of time, and we most certainly wouldn’t have any of the treasured photos of our last baby’s incredible birth.

“Travis and I both can’t thank her enough for all that she did, and we are so so happy that she was there with us through this wild ride. From there we experienced excellent care, baby was checked over, as was I. We both fared wonderfully. He was 6 lbs 7 oz, 20 inches long.

“Our son. Our last baby. Our only boy. Our smallest and quickest delivery. It’s still surreal.”

We wish everyone in the Hogan family well and are so grateful to Little Leapling Photography for sharing the power and beauty of birth with the world.

To help you believe in the strength you carry within, this beautiful cuff is a lovely reminder that you are strong, you are capable, you are a super hero…