We were lucky to catch up with Leona Darnell recently and have shared our conversation below.

Leona, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Do people care about one’s story? The muck and mire one must crawl through in order to gain some measure of success in their chosen field. Maybe. Maybe not. Yet here I am and I will give you the Reader’s Digest version in hopes that it might give the next person a reason to continue their quest in the arts. The ARTS. That’s a phrase people don’t always take seriously. I mean, it’s not a doctor, a lawyer, a biophysicist, or rocket scientist. You know, those “real jobs”. I mean, heck The Arts are just hobbies, right? Oftentimes, I tell people “I am a photographer”. I get “oh yea? Cool. I take pictures too. What else do you do?” Umm, that’s it dude. That’s what I do.

I am a photographer. Now that phrase was hard to say out loud and believe it for quite a while. I am not sure why. Perhaps it was my self-worth–or lack thereof. Perhaps it was the feeling people wouldn’t take me seriously. I am not sure why. It has only been recently (within the last year or so) that when I say it, I believe it. Not only am I a photographer, I am a Birth Photographer. I say that with full confidence and stand behind every picture-dare I say-every piece of Art I make.

It wasn’t always that way. I picked up a camera because a friend from my past was taking some online classes. This was in the 90s and while I was college educated, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I was adrift in the “I should do this”, “I ought to do that”, “my family wants me to be a _____”.Oh hum. She did wonderful landscapes and I thought, huh-I can do that. Turns out, I could not! Meh, I didn’t want to take nature pictures anyways.

I lived in the bohemian city of San Francisco. I traveled the world working for United Airlines and just really lived my best life. I took some photography classes at the Academy of Art where I developed my love for the darkroom and discovered my sense of wonder “making art”. I dabbled in the wedding industry but really couldn’t take the boredom of those long receptions. I tried pets and discovered I really hated wrangling Aunt Junie’s fat basset hound. I tried a few other genres but found them unfulfilling. How could I love an art form, but find what I photograph so completely dull? What I produced, I felt anyone could produce. I thought of myself not only as a fraud but a talentless wannabe to boot??!

That is until I discovered Birth Photography. It was that “come to Jesus” moment people talk about. All the alarms went off in my head “This is it! This is it! Pay attention”. And it was it. I discovered what I was really meant to do. As sappy and saccharine as it may sound, that’s the truth. I found it. I found what I loved. But was I any good at it? Not so great at first.

Now, several years after my first birth, I have found my rhythm. I found my voice. I have found my art. I have found the self-worth to call myself a photographer with pride.

Leona, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Well, I talk birth. Birth preferences, birth doula, birth photography, birth videography. I absolutely love all things birth. Yes, it is unpredictable. Yes, babies come at all hours of the day. Yes, it is a “hurry up and wait” game. But I love it.

Once adding labor doula to my arsenal (certified in 2021), I exploded with happiness. I love helping these families navigate what birth is, w\ how labor progresses, explaining things when they don’t understand what alternatives are available when it comes to labor, pain management, and the actual birth.

I feel adding this service to birth photography has been a game changer-not just monetarily, but spiritually.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I honestly think this entire journey has been a lesson in resilience. Nobody really tells you when you are in business for yourself, your entire life is consumed in making it successful. I don’t mean getting wealthy, I mean just supporting oneself and any dependents you may have. Just making sure I have food on the table, at times, has been a struggle. In the birth world, taking on a part time job is not an option. Chances are a baby is going to make an appearance when you are on shift of said part time job. So, its all in or all out. I am all in.

That being said, if its a story I must tell, a story it is. I think it was my first birth that I was also a doula for. Since I did my education during 2020, there was no shadowing or assisting. I was on my own. My first couple was the best, but I was soooo nervous. When I met with them the first time, I almost had to memorize everything I was going to say because I had never done this before in “real life”. They were so kind and good to me. The husband said to me one day “we didn’t hire you for your experience in being a doula, but more for your passion”. That has stayed with me till this day.

The day came that she was to be induced and on my way there my stomach was doing flip flops, my mind was racing a million miles an hour, my hands were sweating. I was getting a headache worrying so much!

It was a very long labor. 48 hours in the hospital. There were times I felt I knew what to do, but my confidence was so low that I didn’t speak up regarding comfort measures. The nurses would come in and say the exact same thing I was thinking but hadn’t said. Slowly I started speaking up and suggesting different positions and talking with her more. I came out of my protective shell. Not as much as now of course, but for me back then, it was a lot.

After the baby was here and many ooohs and ahhhs, I bid them farewell and started to walk down the corridor. I felt so incompetent, like a fraud. I was telling myself, maybe I should just stick to birth photography. I was good at that. Just then, the husband came racing out, gave me the worlds biggest hug and said “thank you so much. We simply couldn’t have done this without you”. The way that sentence sounded and the way he hugged me tight inspired me to keep on this journey.

I still talk with them from time to time. Seeing how they are doing and letting them know I still think of them.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I say this with a bit of caution. I am not a chest pounding, yelling from the rooftops “the medical industry are devils” kinda gal. In fact, I think we are so fortunate to have life saving medical procedures in place in the event of a true emergency. Before becoming a doula and even before I became a birth photographer, I always just thought medical professionals knew everything and what they said was always the right thing. Even in my own birth, I thought, they must know the right thing for me. After becoming more familiar with medical staff, I see that it isn’t exactly true always.

Obviously I am not a medical professional, but I do have experience in a medical setting. I have seen procedures offered that aren’t necessarily needed. Lets take for instance my last birth I attended. The medical staff was actually very good and read her birth preferences and what she wanted her birth to be like. She didn’t want any interventions and wanted to labor and birth naturally. While this isn’t always possible, it was in her case. Baby was doing great, there was no high blood pressure issue, she was progressing fine. Her water had still not broken and she was hanging out at 8 cm with very intense surges (contractions). The OB came in and suggested breaking her water to get over the hump. She had already explained she didn’t want any intervention, but he still stayed and told her, she could get this all over with, hold her baby sooner, get some rest–kinda trying to talk her into it. He then stayed and waited for an answer. I did say to her with him there “would you like to discuss this privately with your husband” as I knew she was feeling pressured into doing it. The OB got up and said I will give you a minute then. She opted not to have her waters broken and then spontaneously it just happened.

Another example of this at play is several years ago (before I was a doula), I had a momma (I was their birth photographer) in the hospital from a home birth transfer. This was for 5th baby and she had a history of having large babies all born vaginally. The OB on duty said “your baby is too big, you need a C-section”. She told them I have always had big babies and it has been just fine. The OB went into the shoulder dystocia speech about this being a very real possibility. I am not down playing should dystocia, it’s very real indeed, but to scare her into a C-section just made my blood boil. She began to push. The OB actually said (I shit you not!), “I hope your baby gets stuck so you have to have the C-section you need”, Her third push, baby came flying out.

Again, I am not anti medical establishment in the slightest. They do save lives, but the bullying (both subtle and in your face) can be real. I had not know this before. I am hyper aware now.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.birthandbeauty.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/birth_and_beauty/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/birthandbeauty/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/birth-and-beauty-burbank-2

Image Credits
Birth and Beauty