Yes! In many cases, you can hire your own photographer to come to the hospital and photograph your baby after they’re born.
These sessions are commonly called Fresh 48 photography, and they’re one of my favorite ways to document a brand-new baby without having a photographer present for labor and delivery.
Instead of a studio setup or heavily posed newborn photos, your photographer comes to your hospital room after baby arrives and documents those first hours together. Your baby in the bassinet. Tiny hospital bracelets. Feeding and snuggling. Dad holding them. Big siblings meeting the baby. All of those little things happening while you’re getting to know this person you just made.
If you’re delivering in Ocala, Gainesville, or elsewhere in North Central Florida and wondering whether you can bring your own newborn photographer to the hospital, here’s what you need to know.
What Is Hospital Newborn Photography?
Hospital newborn photography simply means having your baby professionally photographed while you’re still in the hospital after delivery.
When you hire your own photographer for this, it’s often referred to as a Fresh 48 session because it typically happens within the first 24 to 48 hours after your baby is born.
It’s different from birth photography because your photographer isn’t there for labor or delivery.
By the time I arrive, baby is already here.
It’s also different from a traditional newborn session because we aren’t bringing props, backdrops, baskets or an entire photography studio into your hospital room.
We’re documenting what’s already there.
If you’re completely new to Fresh 48 photography, I have a separate [guide explaining exactly what a Fresh 48 session is and what happens during one].
Can I Bring My Own Photographer to the Hospital?
Often, yes, but the answer ultimately depends on your hospital’s current visitor and photography policies, as well as anything happening medically with you or your baby.
Hospitals can have different rules about visitors, photography and access to certain areas, and those policies can change. That’s why I don’t recommend relying on something you read online six months before your due date and assuming it will still apply when you deliver.
If you’re planning a Fresh 48 session, we can talk about where you’re delivering ahead of time and make a plan.
And if you’re unsure, you can always ask your hospital or care team whether a professional photographer is permitted to visit you postpartum.
Do I Need Permission From the Hospital?
Depending on where you’re delivering, there may be visitor rules or other policies we need to follow.
A Fresh 48 session happens after delivery, so I’m generally visiting you in your postpartum room rather than photographing medical care or the delivery itself.
That doesn’t mean photographers get to ignore hospital rules, though. π
If staff needs access to you or baby, they get access.
If something medical needs to happen, my camera goes down.
If we’re asked not to photograph something or somewhere, we respect that.
Your care comes before the pictures. Always.
When Does the Photographer Come After Baby Is Born?
Unlike a normal photography session, we aren’t putting Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. on the calendar months before your due date and hoping your baby cooperates. π
You’ll reserve availability with me during pregnancy based around your due date.
Once labor begins or your induction or Cesarean is scheduled, you’ll keep me updated. After baby arrives, we’ll communicate and figure out the best time for me to come.
Fresh 48 sessions generally happen within baby’s first 24β48 hours and before you’re discharged.
The exact timing depends on when baby arrives, how you’re both doing, your discharge plans, hospital policies and availability.
What If My Baby Is Born in the Middle of the Night?
Go to sleep. π
Seriously.
A Fresh 48 photographer does not need to rush into your hospital room at 3 a.m. the second your baby is born.
That’s one of the major differences between birth photography and Fresh 48 photography.
With birth photography, I’m on call for your labor and delivery.
With Fresh 48 photography, you let me know baby has arrived and we’ll coordinate afterward.
You have time to eat something, rest, shower if you want to, stare at your baby for six straight hours or do whatever you need to do before I arrive.
What Will My Photographer Actually Photograph?
This is where hiring your own photographer can be really special.
I’m not coming in just to get one photograph of your baby and leave.
I’m documenting your family with your baby.
That can include baby alone in the hospital bassinet, tiny fingers and toes, hospital bracelets, baby’s hair and little expressions, feeding, snuggling, each parent with baby, everyone together and siblings meeting their new brother or sister.
We can also photograph details from the room that are part of your baby’s first days.
The point isn’t to make the hospital disappear.
Someday, even that weird little plastic bassinet may be something you’re glad you can see again.
Is This the Same as the Newborn Photos the Hospital Offers?
Not necessarily.
Some hospitals may have newborn photography services available, while others may not. What is offered can vary by hospital and can change over time.
A privately hired Fresh 48 photographer is someone you choose before your baby arrives based on their style, approach and the type of photographs you want.
For my Fresh 48 sessions, I’m documenting much more than a portrait of your newborn.
I want Mom in the photographs.
I want Dad or your partner in them.
I want the way your baby looks curled against your chest.
I want your older child cautiously inspecting this strange new person who apparently lives with you now. π
It’s about your family’s first days together, not simply getting a newborn portrait.
Do Hospital Newborn Photos Have to Be Posed?
Nope.
My approach to Fresh 48 photography is relaxed and largely documentary.
I’ll absolutely guide you when you need it. I’ll help you find flattering light, tell you where something will photograph well and give you direction so you’re not sitting there thinking, What do I do with my hands?
But I’m not trying to turn your postpartum hospital room into a studio.
Your newborn doesn’t need to sleep.
They don’t need to be wrapped perfectly.
Your toddler doesn’t need to smile at me.
You don’t need to pose like you’ve been doing this professionally for ten years.
You’re allowed to just be a family who had a baby.
What If My Hospital Room Is Ugly or Messy?
Then congratulations, you’ve apparently been assigned a hospital room. π
Please don’t worry about this.
Hospital rooms are functional spaces. They’re going to have medical equipment, bags, cups, blankets, paperwork, chargers and all kinds of random stuff around.
I work with the light and space we’re given.
Sometimes I’ll move a bag or a cup. Sometimes I’ll change my angle. Sometimes the hospital environment becomes part of the photograph because that’s where your baby’s story was happening.
You do not need to clean before I arrive.
Do I Need to Look Put Together?
Also no.
You just gave birth.
You are not required to emerge from that experience with curled hair and a full face of makeup for me. π
If showering and putting on an outfit makes you feel more like yourself, absolutely do it.
If you’re happiest in comfortable pajamas with your hair thrown up, that’s okay too.
I’ll help with light, positioning and angles.
More importantly, I want you in these photographs.
It’s incredibly easy for moms to become the person taking all the newborn pictures and accidentally disappear from them.
You deserve to exist in your baby’s first photographs too.
Can My Partner Be in the Photos?
Absolutely.
This isn’t meant to be a session only for baby.
Your partner can be photographed holding baby, snuggling with you, helping with feeding or diaper changes and simply existing in those first days together.
We’ll also get photographs of your whole family.
Can Siblings Come to the Hospital for Fresh 48 Photos?
If your hospital’s current visitor policies allow them, yes.
Sibling introductions can be one of the sweetest parts of a Fresh 48 session.
And I use the word sweetest very loosely because toddlers have their own ideas about these things. π
Maybe they’re obsessed with the baby.
Maybe they’re cautious.
Maybe they touch one toe and immediately ask for a snack.
I’m not expecting a perfectly posed sibling portrait.
Whatever their reaction is, that’s part of the story too.
What If I Have a C-Section?
You can still potentially have a Fresh 48 session after a Cesarean birth.
Your recovery and baby’s wellbeing come first, so we’ll work around how you’re feeling, your mobility and whatever care you or baby need.
You don’t need to stand up or move around your hospital room for me to create beautiful photographs.
A huge portion of a Fresh 48 can happen right from your bed.
If you’re planning a Cesarean and wondering how Fresh 48 photography would work for you, reach out before delivery and we can talk through it.
What If My Baby Goes to the NICU?
Then photography stops being the priority.
We’ll talk.
Every NICU situation is different, and hospital policies, baby’s medical needs and what your family wants will determine what’s possible.
Sometimes plans change after birth.
That’s okay.
We’ll figure out what makes sense for your family rather than forcing the original plan to happen.
What If I’m Discharged Before 48 Hours?
Despite the name, your baby doesn’t need to be exactly 48 hours old.
Fresh 48 is a style and window of newborn photography, not an appointment scheduled for hour 47. π
If you know you’re likely to have a shorter hospital stay, communication becomes especially important.
Let me know baby has arrived so we can coordinate your session before you head home whenever possible.
When Should I Hire My Hospital Newborn Photographer?
Before your baby is born.
This is the biggest thing I want expecting parents to know.
Please don’t wait until you’re sitting in the hospital holding your newborn to start Googling photographers.
Fresh 48 photographers need to plan around unpredictable delivery dates, and I can only take a limited number of expecting families around the same timeframe.
You don’t need to know baby’s birthday.
You just need your estimated due date.
We’ll figure out the rest when your tiny boss decides to show up.
Hiring a Fresh 48 Photographer in Ocala, Florida
I’m Savannah, an Ocala Fresh 48 photographer documenting newborns and families throughout Ocala, Marion County, Citrus County, Gainesville and surrounding areas of North Central Florida.
I photograph Fresh 48 sessions in hospitals, birth centers and at home when appropriate, with an approach that is relaxed, family-centered and focused on what those first days actually looked like.
If you’re pregnant and wondering whether I can photograph your baby at the hospital where you’re planning to deliver, send me your due date and planned birth location.
I’ll help you figure out the rest.
VIEW FRESH 48 PHOTOGRAPHY
