The Birthkeeper, LLC - Missouri Birth & Creative Services

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The Birthkeeper, LLC - Missouri Birth & Creative Services

Danielle Saforek | Filmmaker, Photographer & Doula | Missouri Based | Documenting Birth & Motherhood Hi there!

My name is Danielle and I’m a wife, mother of two, and photographer located in the Mid-Missouri area that specializes in Birth Photography/Videography, Fresh 48 sessions and capturing babies and families in a lifestyle, natural environment. I am all about those precious little details from the soft hair on your little one’s head down to their tiny little toes. I began my journey with Birth Photogr

aphy almost 6 years ago and haven’t stopped since. I have photographed over 150 births now and it is not only my passion but I am a strong advocate for all things pregnancy, birth and postpartum related. I love documenting one of the most life changing times in your life and I will tell you this, its something you will cherish forever and will want to look back on over and over again. I’m dedicated to my birth work and I go on-call with my clients 24/7 the weeks surrounding their due date. I will support you with your wants, needs and fully capture what you would like, being very modest to completely detailed. I capture your unique story, and when you are at home cuddling on that sweet little one of yours looking at those images, you will see so much beauty and see a YOU you've never seen before. A beautiful, powerful, transformed mother in the throes of the most intense pain and love you will ever feel.

01/10/2025

October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, a time to honor the tiniest lives that left the deepest imprints on our hearts. 💜

There are no words that can fully capture the ache of losing a baby. Whether it was during pregnancy, at birth, or shortly after, the love parents carry for their child is infinite, even when their time earthside is far too short.

As a doula and birth photographer, I’ve had the sacred honor of documenting these tender moments, moments filled with both unbearable grief and immeasurable love. These photographs and stories are not just images, they are proof that these babies existed, that they mattered, and that their stories deserve to be remembered.

To every parent who has walked this path of loss, your love, your sorrow, your courage, it all matters. You are not alone. Your baby’s life, no matter how brief, is forever woven into your story and into the hearts of all who hold space with you.

This month, may we remember together. May we speak their names. May we hold each other gently. And may grieving families feel less alone in their journey. 🌙✨

- Danielle
www.thebirthkeeperllc.com

30/09/2025

There are moments in this work that stop me in my tracks, the full circle ones. 🌙✨ Being invited to support a family as their doula during birth and then returning weeks later to photograph their little one earthside, feels like the sweetest continuation of their story. From bump to birth to baby snuggles at home… it’s an honor I’ll never take for granted. 💛

18/09/2025

Sometimes birth looks different than we planned. ✨ For some mothers, the path to meeting their baby is through a cesarean birth. A planned cesarean is no less powerful, no less sacred, and certainly no less birth.

It takes incredible strength to walk into that operating room, knowing it’s a major surgery, and to surrender with courage, love, and hope. These mothers choose trust, bravery, and resilience as they undergo one of the most involved procedures there is… all to meet their baby.

Birth is never one-size-fits-all. Every story is unique, every mother is strong, and every baby’s arrival is extraordinary.

To the cesarean mamas, planned or unplanned, your story is worthy, beautiful, and deserves to be honored in this way.

I’d love to hear from you, if you’ve had a cesarean, what did it teach you about your strength?

- Danielle
www.thebirthkeeperllc.com

16/09/2025

Birth is not just an event, it’s the most raw, vulnerable, sacred threshold a family will ever cross. To be invited into that space as a photographer & doula is not something casual, it’s not just “taking pictures” as a photographer. It’s holding the weight of a story that will only happen once. It’s walking into intensity, beauty, tears, and power, and knowing when to lean in and when to melt into the background.

It takes professionalism. It takes intuition. It takes someone who understands that this work is more than art, it’s a responsibility. Because these moments… the first breath, the tears, the grit, the fierce love, are unrepeatable.

Birth photography isn’t just about the photos. It’s about protecting the sacredness of that room while capturing the truth of it. That’s why it matters who you hire, because not everyone is meant to hold this kind of space.

✨ These moments deserve to be remembered with reverence.

✨ These stories deserve to be told with dignity.

✨ This work deserves to be valued as the profound calling that it is.

- Danielle
www.thebirthkeeperllc.com

10/09/2025

✨ Let’s talk about the value of birth photography.

People will spend $3k+ on wedding photography without hesitation… yet hesitate when it comes to investing in birth photography. But here’s the thing, a wedding is scheduled. You know the date, the time, the venue. Your photographer shows up for 8–10 hours, captures the magic, and goes home.

A birth is unpredictable. Your birth photographer is on-call 24/7, often for weeks. We drop everything, family events, sleep, holidays, because we’re committed to being there the moment you need us. And when labor begins, we can be by your side for 12, 18, even 24+ hours, documenting the most raw, powerful, once in a lifetime story you’ll ever live.

The value isn’t just in the hours, it’s in the sacrifice, the dedication, the skill, and the heart of the photographer, so choose wisely! It’s in preserving the moment you meet your baby. It’s in the way your partner looks at you with tears in their eyes. It’s in the first breath, the first cry, the first touch.

These are moments that can never be redone.

Birth photographers aren’t “just taking pictures.” We’re giving families something priceless, a way to relive the day their lives changed forever.

So yes, birth photography is an investment. And like weddings, it deserves to be honored and compensated for the time, talent, and commitment it requires.

Because your baby’s birth day? It’s every bit as important, if not more, than your wedding day. 💛

-Danielle
www.thebirthkeeperllc.com

08/09/2025

So much of birth is about how we’re supported in the in-between spaces, those raw, powerful moments where you’re not sure if you can do it, and someone leans in and reminds you that you already are.

Midwives walk with you through those thresholds. They sit beside you when contractions shift, when doubt creeps in, when your body trembles on the edge of transformation. Their care isn’t rushed, it isn’t dictated by a clock, it’s rooted in presence, patience, and deep trust in the birth process.

In contrast, hospital births with OBs often focus on the clinical transition, monitoring, managing, moving you toward an outcome. That support is important, but it’s different. It tends to be about safety checks and medical decision making, not the emotional and physical holding that birth so often craves.

The truth? We need both kinds of support. Birth is safest when the sacred and the clinical meet, when medical expertise is there if needed, but when the default is unwavering belief in your body, and compassionate guidance through the most vulnerable threshold you’ll ever walk.

Birth support matters because it changes how you remember your story. It shifts trauma into power, fear into trust, and isolation into belonging.

Every birthing person deserves to feel held, seen, and supported, not just managed.

✨ Birth is not just a medical event. It’s a profound human experience. ✨

Here are some photos I captured from a birth I documented this summer with the lovely midwives Rebecca & Chelsea offering this type of care.

Rebecca Wanosik Your Birth Your Way, LLC

- Danielle
www.thebirthkeeperllc.com

04/09/2025

One of my favorite things about family centered births is when the older siblings get to be part of it. 🥹 Kids are so much more capable of understanding and processing birth than we often give them credit for. When they’re included, whether it’s holding mom’s hand, hearing the sounds of labor, or sneaking in for that first peek, it helps them feel safe, connected, and truly part of the story.

Birth isn’t just about welcoming a new baby, it’s about welcoming a new chapter for the whole family. 💕 Watching kids step into their new role as big brother or big sister in real time? Absolutely priceless.

Would you want your kids to be present for part of their sibling's birth? Why or why not?

-Danielle
www.thebirthkeeperllc.com

02/09/2025

There’s just something so special about family centered births at home. ✨ Being surrounded by your people, in your own space, makes those first moments with a new baby feel even more magical.

This sweet repeat family of mine welcomed their newest little love right in the middle of their traveling RV living room, with big siblings looking on in awe. The way everyone leaned in, smiled, and reached out for their first touch, it was pure love in motion. 💛

These are the kinds of moments I love to document. The ones that remind us birth isn’t just about welcoming a baby, it’s about a whole family being transformed together. And getting to capture that story for families to look back on forever? That’s the most beautiful part of what I do.

-Danielle
www.thebirthkeeperllc.com

18/08/2025

To celebrate World Breastfeeding Week, I had the honor of documenting something truly beautiful, mothers coming together in their most authentic, vulnerable, and powerful form.

Breastfeeding is not just about nourishment, it’s about connection. Connection between mother and child, between women supporting one another, and between the shared stories of motherhood that weave us all together.

When mothers gather like this, you can feel the strength, the softness, the laughter, the tears, and the deep beauty of a season that is often both challenging and sacred. There is something so grounding about sitting in circle with women who understand, who get the exhaustion, the joy, the hormones, the giggles, and the quiet midnight moments that no one else sees.

This event always reminds me that motherhood, in all its rawness and reality, is stunningly beautiful. Thank you to each mama who showed up, shared space, and allowed me to capture your story. These images are a reflection of love, community, and the unshakable bond of motherhood.

🌿 Here’s to the beauty of connection, the power of women supporting women, and the authenticity of motherhood in every form.

Thank you to The Factory at Potato Chip in California, Missouri for allowing us to use your beautiful venue.

-Danielle

04/08/2025

You’ve probably heard the term “aging placenta”, especially in conversations around induction, due dates, or risks of going past 40 weeks. It’s a phrase that sounds scientific, even alarming. But here’s the truth, the concept of the placenta simply “aging” like spoiled produce is not only misleading, it’s largely unsupported by strong scientific evidence.

Yes, the placenta changes as pregnancy progresses, just like every organ in our body does over time. It matures. It adapts. It evolves to meet the growing needs of your baby. But these natural, expected changes are often pathologized without context. Saying a placenta is “aging” implies dysfunction, and yet, most placentas continue to function beautifully well beyond 40 weeks in healthy pregnancies.

The idea of a deteriorating placenta is often used to justify inductions, especially after 39 weeks. But current research doesn’t show a sudden or predictable drop in placental function at any exact point in time. Placental “calcifications” seen on ultrasounds (often cited as signs of aging) are common, non-specific, and not well correlated with outcomes. In fact, studies show that many full-term and post-term babies have perfectly healthy placentas.

It’s important to remember this, true placental insufficiency is a real (but rare) medical condition, and it usually comes with other clinical signs, like growth restriction or abnormal doppler readings or NST's. Simply being 40+ weeks pregnant is not, in itself, a reason to assume the placenta is failing.

So, let’s shift the narrative. The placenta is not a ticking time bomb. It is a dynamic, resilient organ that often serves mother and baby well throughout the natural length of pregnancy, even when that journey extends past the due date.

-Danielle

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Opening Hours

Monday	09:00 - 17:00
	18:00 - 19:00
Tuesday	09:00 - 17:00
Wednesday	09:00 - 17:00
Thursday	09:00 - 17:00
Friday	09:00 - 17:00
Saturday	09:00 - 17:00
	18:00 - 19:00
Sunday	09:00 - 17:00
	18:00 - 19:00

Website

https://www.thebirthkeeperllc.com/

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Why Choose Birth Photography?

Hi there! My name is Danielle and i’m a photographer located in the Mid-Missouri area that specializes in Birth Photography/Videography, Fresh 48 sessions and capturing babies and families in a lifestyle, natural environment. I am all about those precious little details from the soft hair on your little one’s head down to their tiny little toes.

I began my journey with Birth Photography almost 6 years ago and haven’t stopped since. I have photographed over 50 births now and it is not only my passion but I am a strong advocate for all things pregnancy/birth related. I plan to become a certified Doula in the near future to assist couples with the process of birth, emotional support and what to expect pre and post labor. I love documenting one of the most life changing times in your life and I will tell you this, its something you will cherish forever and will want to look back on over and over again.

I’m dedicated to my birth work and I go on-call with my clients 24/7 the weeks surrounding their due date. I will support you with your wants, needs and fully capture what you would like, being very modest to completely detailed, I go by your wants and needs.

I capture your story, and when it’s all over, you might just start to look at those photos and videos with one eye closed - scared you're going to see bad angles or scary body parts but you’ll look, and see a YOU you've never seen before. A beautiful, powerful, transformed woman in the throes of the most intense pain and love you've ever felt.