We Believe in YOU!

Your Birth, Your Way

Your Birth. Your Choices. A Team Behind You.

The Collective is a community of independent birth photographers and doulas serving families throughout Southeast and Eastern Michigan.

We believe you deserve to choose the kind of birth support that feels right for you — and you shouldn't have to navigate finding it alone.

Our small, carefully connected team works across a wide geographic area, with support organized by location. When you reach out, we'll connect you with the doula and birth photographers who serve your area, so you have a trusted team of professionals who know one another, work together, and are available to support you.

We are currently a collective of four experienced birth workers and we are excited to work with you and your family during this transitional time.

One Collective. Local Support. A Bigger Village.

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At Michigan Birth Photographers, we understand the importance of LGBTQ inclusive midwives in providing affirming and personalized care to all families. Inclusive midwives create a safe and welcoming environment where individuals and couples of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities feel respected and understood throughout their pregnancy, birth, and postpartum journey. By acknowledging and validating the unique needs of LGBTQ families, inclusive midwives play a crucial role in promoting positive birth experiences and fostering a sense of empowerment for all parents. We recognize the invaluable impact of LGBTQ inclusive midwifery in creating supportive and inclusive spaces for birthing individuals and their loved ones.

The Team

We are a collective of experienced birth photographers who service the greater Ann Arbor area. With over 20+ years of birth experience.

Jennifer (she/her) is an experienced and certified birth photographer and videographer, doula, midwifery assistant, kinesiologist, and mentor/instructor for other birth photographers. Jennifer is the mother to two feisty girls and the partner to a very chill husband, Josh. She’s the Co-Founder of Birth Becomes You as well as Jennifer Mason Photography.

Kristen (she/her) is a birth doula, birth photographer, certified birth and postpartum doula, as well as a childbirth educator. She feel in love in birth photography when she saw examples of it on Pinterest, then photographed her first birth in 2016 and has been hooked ever since. She is a queer mother of two kiddos - Ryan and Micah. She is married to her best friend and co-parent, Dave. She also teaches Evidence Based Birth Childbirth Classes to empower families with information and support for childbirth.

Caty (she/her) is a certified birth photographer, birth and postpartum doula, certified lactation counselor, Body Ready Method pro, childbirth educator, placenta encapsulation specialist, and doula mentor. She's married to her high school sweetheart, Sam, and together they have three incredible kiddos. She leans into empathy as she strives to help families meet their goals during every meaningful milestone and moment.

Kathleen (she/her) is a childbirth educator as well as birth photographer, birth doula and doula instructor. She is currently not on-call for birth doula clients, but supports the team with childbirth education, doula education and steps in when needed. With an extensive background as an OB tech and former midwife student, she is passionate about amplifying the voice of the birthing person. Kathleen is a single, queer mother to 4 amazing children and the founder of Informed Childbirth Education Services.

 FAQs

  • We work together as a team to support you and your family during this time. Being on call is a 5 week/ 24/7 commitment and working together allows us to have some work/life balance. Either one of us will come to your birth and we want you to get to know us as team.

  • We work hard to not miss any births! Our teamwork approach allows for both of us to be ready and available to you at all time. However, sometimes precipitous births do happen and it isn’t the fault of anyone, it’s just how the story unfolds. (We have not missed any births working together as a team)

  • Being on call is a 5 week, 24/7 commitment. It’s a lifestyle. The longer we do this work, the more we realize that we need teamwork to continue to do our work.
    When you work with us, we will select a team of 2 doula and photographers who will be on-call for your birth. The doula team will be based on your location. You will do your prenatal consults with your doula team and postpartum will be with whomever was at your birth.