The winners of the 2017 Image of the Year competition are awesome in the truest sense of the word.
The International Association of Professional Birth Photographers has announced the winners of the 2017 Image of the Year competition, and the photos will take your breath away. Every image is awesome in the truest sense of the word - a magical, deeply intimate moment in a woman's labor and delivery.


The judges did not have an easy task - there were 649 stunning, heart-tugging photos to go through. In the end, they did a remarkable job. They selected the winners using a point system based on technicality, emotionality, and composition.

Related: Did This Mom Actually Photograph Her Child's Birth?

The judging panel included an impressive list of midwives, an obstetrician, acclaimed childbirth educator Penny Simkin (The Birth Partner), leaders in the field of birth advocacy, and photographers. The celebrity factor was contributed by Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein, producer and director of the award-winning documentary, 'The Business of Being Born.' (If you haven't yet seen this, SEE IT.)

And, if you can't get enough of the gloriousness of birth and the incredible raw power of women, check out the 21 Honorable Mentions from the 2017 competition as well as all of the submissions. I would tell you which ones to look out for, but the ones that speak to me (the father catching his daughter, all the glorious placentas!), are surely different than the ones that speak to you.

These are the winners of the 2017 Image of the Year Competition:

First Place: Road to Deliverance

Photo: Jaydene Freunde, Cradled Creations

Photo: Jaydene Freunde, Cradled Creations

Best in Category (Labor): Determination


Best in Category (Delivery): With A Splash


Best in Category (Postpartum): Straight From Heaven

Photo: Birth Unscripted

Photo: Birth Unscripted

Best in Category (Birth Details): Pieces of Me

Photo: KEDocumentary

Photo: KEDocumentary

A Selection of Honorable Mentions

Before the First Breath, Birth in Focus

Before the First Breath (Birth in Focus)

Gentle Caesarean Birth (Belle Verdiglione Photography)

Gentle Caesarean Birth (Belle Verdiglione Photography
)​

Intended mother catches her baby born via surrogacy (Leilani Rogers, Photographer)

Intended mother catches her baby born via surrogacy (Leilani Rogers, Photographer
)​

505-nacimiento-de-alondra-wm

Alondra's Birth - Future Big Sister (Public Kiss Photography
)​

516-labor-iapbp-wm

she believed she could (Little Plum Photography, by Stephanie Entin
)​