Something rare and beautiful! 

Henna is temporary body art, lasting a week or two, so it's hard to know if the henna will be there for the birth - which has mysterious timing. Roughly 60% of women give birth within a week of their "due date". 

I have been asked many time to adorn a woman for her birth, and about half the time we make it before labor starts! Here are some examples of birthed artwork I've been able to document over the years.

The photo above with deer in the design happened this last December! See more photos in the Winter Issue of Artfull Mother. 

These gorgeous twins are our grandsons! Some times the timing just works out beautifully - we arrived 3 days before she gave birth (at 39 weeks!) and so I had time to adorn our lovely daughter Aleah, and Rob and I photographed her glowing in silky things. 

Kala was actually the first mama to ever request henna for her birth, and we began her sessions 2 weeks before her due date. Every 4 days or so I would meet with her to retrace the design. She gave birth right around her due date.

I have taken all these photos, with the exception of this last one with Monet (below), who was photographed by Rebecca Walsh for her blessing and Jennifer Mason for her birth. Read her birth story and see more photos in our magazine, Artfull Mother.