I've been contacted by a young lady to provide a quote to film the birth of her baby later this year.

I'm not sure how this could be arranged timing wise as even planned births can be early or late. Who knows if i could drop everything and arrive at the hospital in time.

I dont know if there is a partner involved but I'm assuming they're are OK with a complete stranger filming this extremely personal moment, not to mention the hospital and staff. I am not sure I am though, there´s something about it that just seems a bit weird to me.

There has been a docu on tv some time ago about a filmcrew following Belgian mothers to be right into the deliveryroom, so that even went on tv for all to see. There I imagine you had beside the cameraman also a sound guy pointing his boom :)
As it is impossible to give a date/hour she can't expect you to stay prepared when it happens and drop everything you are doing at that moment? What if you are in the middle of an assignment? Think she has to realize that.
If you would accept it add an extra line in your contract that if you don't make it in time to film it that's bad luck for her. But on the other hand if you know that might happen would you feel good if you failed to film that one moment that would be of such big importance to her? I don't think I would accept it and if I did it would be a at high price if I had to guarantuee that someone had to be available to capture that moment.

I would definitely have a line in there about your availability. Babies can come 2-3 weeks early or 2-3 weeks late. It's a planned event... but UNSCHEDULED! 4am or 4pm? Who knows!

Also, labor can last A LONG TIME! 20+ hours?! YIKES! Can you stick around that long AND stay awake?! Get all that stuff situated before it happens!

Personally, I don't think I would be comfortable shooting/editing this. I would definitely have a line in my contract to give you an "out" depending on the timing. Also, how are you going to charge for this? Hourly? I would suggest at least a minimum charge that includes "X" hours of coverage, and then each additional hour is "$X". That way if you have to film for 20 hours you're not getting paid to film 4. Make sure you hourly rate includes more than just shooting time. It should also include editing time for that hour of footage, as well as tape material. You might want to also include a bit extra for food and caffinee and perhaps some tylenol. d;-)

I can't help but think most Hospitals wouldn't want a video camera across their doorstep from a legal point of view. God forbid something goes wrong, does your tape then become evidence of malpractice.....I'd probably give this one a polite wide berth. Why not suggest to her to get a stills camera that takes movie clips as well, then edit them into a montage?
May give her partner something to do in between getting nails dug into his arm?

I let my brother-in-law borrow one of my smaller videocameras and the hospital had no issue with it .. just to throw that out there.

I would suggest bringing a 2nd camera guy to shoot when you are changing tapes, I am sure the couple would not want to miss that moment.

I would suggest bringing a 2nd camera guy to shoot when you are changing tapes, I am sure the couple would not want to miss that moment.


Could the sound or lighting guy or maybe one of the runners not handle that?

There is no way I would do this on a professional level. I don't care how much the job paid. I might do it for a friend for free.

Things change the moment you bring the term 'professional videographer' to the table. If I was just doing it for a friend I would just use a home camera. And if I was able to make it.. great. If not, then , o well. We tried.

I've done one of these, a long time ago. ( http://vimeo.com/461439 ) I would never do it again though. It was the biggest pain ever waiting around for that darn baby to be born. I think I charged the couple $500 bucks but that didn't even cover the time I sat at the hospital waiting for the action to start happening.

If it was me, I would suggest to the couple that they spend the money on buying their own camcorder. For a lot less than what they'd have to pay a professional they could film the birth themselves plus have a video camera around to capture all the milestones along the way as the little one grows up.

Just an idea.

If it was me, I would suggest to the couple that they spend the money on buying their own camcorder. For a lot less than what they'd have to pay a professional they could film the birth themselves plus have a video camera around to capture all the milestones along the way as the little one grows up.

Just an idea.

Sounds good to me. They could always book you to give a tutorial on how to use the camera properly and also give them some ideas on how to film the event.

If they still wanted you to film something, perhaps they could call you after the baby is delivered and you could come up to the ward at your convenience to do a pro job on the mother and baby. That way it's much more under your control.

Josh, that was very tasteful and well put together....it didn't go too far and just showed the right amounts of what needed to be seen

Dan, maybe show your client that clip and see what she thinks?

My wife is a certified doula and an apprentice midwife. I've personally watched eleven births - five in a hospital and six at home.

I *might* do this if it was a home birth and only if my wife was the attendant. No way if this is a hospital birth.

I'd LOve to do one! In fact I've begged people to let me (I have shy friends!) but so far no takers.

As far as the logistics...I think you've recieved some great advice already...seems pretty complicated if it's a stranger!

Good luck and let us know what you decide

At least in Canada, as a professional, you would need to be in contact with the Corporate Communications or Public Relations department of the hospital well in advance of the birth to assure you would even be let on the premises with pro gear. As well, the attending health care practitioners may or may not be ok with being videotaped. Would it be awesome for the couple. Absolutely. Would it be a neat professional experience? As someone who has shot 3 surgeries - YUP. Is it a kettle of worms? Probably.

Many lay-persons don't realize exactly how hard it can be to get permission to get a camera anywhere. The previous advice about having a member of the "entourage" use a high end consumer or prosumer camera is probably the best advice one could give. Buy a High Def hard drive camera so you're not caught in tape changes (batteries should last 3 - 5 hours, tapes last 1).

I've shot about 15 births but I give them raw footage. I really don't want to edit it and I think child birth is cool but very personal. My clients wanted a high quality camera for better images than their single chip cameras and to actually enjoy the birth without having to worry about filming. I do interviews with the couple prior and post birth. If couples want it edited, I recommend that you use their dv camera and a demo copy of Vegas or movie maker or imovie to edit it on their own.

Note, child birth can take hours and hours and hours and is sometimes very early in the morning. It can be on any day, including Saturdays. So, unless you have free people to cover you if you have something else going on at that time, I wouldn't recommend filming one.

I charge by the hour($40) with a maximum fee of $400. Most of them are in the 300 to 400 range. Find out what works best for you. I market my services with doula's or birthing coaches and word of mouth.

My wife and I were approached by one of her co-workers at a recent cook out asking If I'd be interested in capturing her child's birth in approx. 7 months. The first things that came to mind were what angles would I need to utilize? Cinematic or documentary style? Once I came to my senses I explained that I had no experience with capturing child birth. I asked what she looking to have captured exactly and her response was "all of it". I asked if she wouldn't be more comfortable with her husband capturing all those "important details" and "intimate angles" and her response was "I want him next to me holding my hand and he's not really that great with the camcorder. If you record it then we can both in it and put all our attention on our baby and his or hers' birth. I know you would be professional about it." All valid points - I suggested they think about it some more and we revisit the proposal in about 6 months and they agreed. After that my wife and I excused ourselves to refill our drinks - on our way over to the beverage table my wife says under her breath "I don't care how much they offer you I'm not letting you look at some other woman's "intimate details".

on our way over to the beverage table my wife says under her breath "I don't care how much they offer you I'm not letting you look at some other woman's "intimate details".

Hehe. Why does this make me chuckle? Probably because it reminds me of what my wife would say.

I suppose the entire video could be shot in a way to avoid that sort of problem, depending on how intimate the clients wanted the shots to be.