When I went to the delivery room to have my first child, I naively packed my pre-pregnancy jeans in my hospital bag. I was going to have a baby! Didn’t that mean I would come home in my pre-pregnancy JEANS!? Absolutely no one warned me that I would be coming home looking six months pregnant, holding a newborn. So if you are preparing for your newborn session and beginning to worry about how you might look in the pictures, here are some posing tips for new moms to help put your mind at ease.
You Just Had a BABY!
Before I go any further, I feel the need to yell from the rooftops: “YOU JUST HAD A BABY!” Absolutely no one is expecting you to look like the baby fell from the sky. Please give yourself some grace, mama. I remember panic-scouring my closet the day-of my daughter’s newborn session because absolutely nothing fit. I ended up in jeans (NOT my pre-pregnancy ones) and a sweater. If you book your newborn session with Sharon Leger Photography, you don’t have to worry about searching your closet for a magical outfit. You will have a whole rack of them available to you at the studio, in all sizes. My client closet is a complimentary service where you can try on anything you need. And because I have every size, you don’t need to worry about finding something in the days between leaving the hospital and your session. I just recommend bringing a strapless bra (nude color, ideally) and a cami to go underneath.
Posing Tips for New Moms: Arms
The first self-conscious area for many new moms is their upper arms. When pressed up against your side, your arm tends to spread out and look larger than it actually is. My first tip to combat this is to cover it up! All of my Client Closet dresses have coverage of your upper arms for exactly that reason. Second, I encourage my clients to pop their elbow and will pose you accordingly. This way, your arm is not pressing against your torso.
Tummy Posing Tips
The area that most new moms are nervous about at their newborn session is their midsection. Again, I was SHOCKED to find out that your baby weight didn’t just fall off, so I’ve been there, done that. One of my posing tips for new moms to avoid showing your mid-section with a flowy dress. The looser the dress is, the more coverage you’ll have. That being said, I have photographed many new moms. I alway use strategic cropping and angles to make sure that you are really only shown on camera from the bust up. So no worries, mama, I got you!
Posing Tips for New Moms: Neck
Finally, the third area of concern for new moms is usually their neck area. My favorite tips for avoiding the double chin is to extend your neck slightly forward towards the camera and angle your head towards your baby. I will walk you through that, step-by-step, but this will help to avoid any folds you don’t want to see. When I’m giving posing tips for new moms, I also encourage them to use their hair strategically. A photographer who works with postpartum moms knows to arrange a new mom’s hair so that the hair is carefully placed over any lines that want to be avoided post-partum. And of course, it’s always about the angles. This is why you’ll find me up on a stool for a majority of your parent pictures. Angles help all of us!
These are just a few of my favorite posing tips for new moms. My babies are 4 and 6 now and I am still grateful that I powered through my insecurities at the time and was in the pictures with them. With time, I got my body back and those memories will never be able to be re-created. If there is an area that you are nervous about, feel free to mention it to your photographer. Our job is to help you look your best and I take my job very seriously!
If you want to see what some parent poses look like from recent sessions, you can see them here. Also be sure to follow me on Facebook and Instagram to keep up to date with recent work!
