Birth photographers capture moments of deep intensity and emotion for parents. To celebrate this work, an international community of birth photographers called Birth Becomes Her holds an annual contest honoring labor, delivery and postpartum images.

The organization invited birth photographers around the world to submit images taken in 2018 for the categories of hospital, out of hospital, color, black and white and postpartum. A panel of judges selected three winners in each category and overall winners out of a pool of roughly 1,200 submissions from more than a dozen countries.

“We are excited to see the contest grow each year, as we believe there is POWER in seeing real and striking images of birth,” the contest organizers wrote in a press release. “The artists who submitted to this contest are incredibly talented and their work makes a huge difference to families in both the local and international community. We hope that this collection changes the public’s perception on birth and reminds us that we have options when birthing our babies.”