Anya Wait Photo and Doula, -, Madison, WI (2025)

07/27/2023

17 years ago today I came in to Meriter hospital contracting with baby #5 and anxious I was going to accidentally give birth on the Beltline driving my other kids to Montessori School. I told my late OB/GYN husband (Erik Wait, MD) that considering one of our kids came out in our tub at home after a 30 minute from start to finish labor and birth, I was not interested in a car birth attended by toddlers.

I convinced my family practice doc who was caring for me to admit me at 4 cm with a plan to rupture my bag of waters and have a baby. At the time my BFF was a postpartum nurse and came down to chat with me about picking up one toddler of mine after her shift. When she came in the room she tripped over the soiled linen container and it crashed onto the floor making a huge bang. For some reason my kids are super sensitive in utero to sound and this kid went from -1 station to what we call ballot-able or basically a bouncing head ball in my pelvis (not safe for rupture). So we had to start Pitocin to bring his head back down (I’m looking at you, Jenny lol 😘) and then move on with our plans.

About 2 hours later his head had come back down and I had anesthesia come consult me for an epidural because I knew I was going to go from 0-60 in about 3 seconds once my water was broken. I had a specific way I wanted my epidural placed and I’m sure I made the anesthesiologist nuts with my preference requests which honestly ended up biting me in the ass at the end lol. I don’t mind the contractions, but an 8 lb baby flying out of my va**na at 90 miles an hour I wanted coverage for!

An hour and a half after my water broke (it was probably sooner but this is what I remember), this kid did come flying right on out with me yelling so loud I’m sure everyone on the floor heard. Let’s just say there may have been some words with a lot of flair yelled in that moment. I had mis calculated my button push, so essentially I had great epidural coverage for my placenta. I remember my nurse at the time whispering in my ear before he was born, “hey Anya, I just want you to know that you’re the only one here not sweating which is really unfair” 🤣

My husband caught him as he came out just like he did all our babies - and there was no breaking down of the stupid bed which is a huge pet peeve of mine. I gave birth on my side. I told the nurses that if they told me how to push I would ask them to leave and if anyone touched my fundus post birth but me unless I was having a massive hemorrhage, they were fired from my room. I’m cool like that 😬

After he was born I looked at my husband with tears in my eyes and said, “look what we made!” like I did with all our babies.

Rowan Michael Wait you are so loved and I know your daddy is so proud of you and wishes he were here to give you the biggest hugs like he always did.

Thanks for putting up with me, Meriter nurses ❤️ and Dr Henry for covering my epidural and if I were to have needed a c/section - I am not telling the whole story bc it’s a doozy, but let’s just say my chart was kept in my room from prying eyes. No there was no Epic system at the time - look at that 80’s decor in 2006!

Now I’m going to go bake a cake for my baby boy!

04/22/2023

Hey guys, I’m here!!!

I usually don’t have to run in for a cesarean section, but in the past two months I’ve had to throw on my clothes and go for TWO! Surprise!

I fundamentally believe that everyone deserves to have the birth experience they want to have. For some that means an unmedicated va**nal birth, for some an epidural, and for others an elective cesarean section for a variety of reasons is the right choice. And yes, I have supported primary elective cesareans.

I also fundamentally believe people have the right to be emotionally supported during whatever type of birth they have, including cesareans.

It is far more important to have your doula plus your partner and spouse supporting you (if you choose) during your cesarean than random extraneous people in the OR. There are plenty of cesareans to be observed as a student and one where someone has chosen a doula should be able to have both their doula and their partner/spouse with them.

Hospital staff can argue all they want, but I have been in operating rooms in multiple different states as well as multiple different hospitals across Wisconsin over the past 25+ years.

This isn’t about me. Honestly sitting on my ass in the PACU for an hour playing animal crossing on my phone is way easier than supporting someone during a cesarean. Especially if I’ve been up for 24 hours. It’s about giving quality care to people who deserve to be supported by a professional (if they choose) in the OR and well as in the delivery room.

Hopping off my stool now … the stool that anesthesia brought me so I could get this shot among many more. I did have to promise I wouldn’t drop my camera in the uterus.

04/21/2023

We were texting back and forth through the night … her water had broken earlier that afternoon, and she opted to wait to go into labor on her own. That wait wasn’t long.

All through the night and into the morning we texted each other about the contractions, how close they were coming, and what to do to help with them. I was doing an 11p- 5a twin postpartum doula shift. By 5 am I was on my way to meet them at SSM. By 10:39 am he was born. He was so proud of her he had to call his mama and say, “she did it without anything, she didn’t holler or anything!” 🤣🥰

What an absolutely beautiful birth.

*disclaimer … there is nothing wrong with hollering while birthing a baby. I sounded like the exorcist. It’s all good stuff.

12/30/2022

This is my why. It is also my favorite photo of us together. Today would have been our 25th wedding anniversary. We were together for 16 amazingly crazy years that began one August night in 1994 on a labor and delivery floor during his senior year of OB/GYN residency.

This photo was taken on April 25, 1996 in a rural Arkansas hospital during my midwifery training after I caught my first pre-term baby (35 weeks) — baby ended up on a helicopter to Arkansas Children’s 45 minutes away after an argument I got into with staff because I thought baby needed oxygen and a transport. Peds finally came in and agreed. Erik told me I was like an aggressively vocal resident. 🤣🤦‍♀️ Baby spent two weeks in the NICU for Hyaline Membrane Disease (respiratory distress syndrome). I tell this story in different ways every time because there are so many fun parts to it.

He comes with me in my head and heart to every client visit and every birth. He is one of the biggest reasons I am who I am today. If you knew him and loved him, I know he loved you. He truly loved everyone. If you’ve seen me at one of the local hospitals and told me how awesome he was and how much you miss him too, thank you.

My goal this year was 26 births, I hit 37 with a couple more days in this year to hit one or two more. It was an honor to meet all of my 2022 babies, looking forward to meeting the wee ones of 2023 ❤️

As always, thanks for reading.

10/04/2022

*trigger warning parent death*

My mom passed away last week. Actually I don’t really know when she passed away, I was called by UW Health to do a welfare check on her, was able to access her apartment, and found her body. She had been gone awhile. I am now attempting to pick up all the pieces which included body identification and cause of death with the medical examiner, cremation, unattended death clean up, and a lot of trauma and grief.

I am incredibly grateful to the two wonderful doulas and doula/tog I work with who have helped both me and my clients have coverage over this last week when I was not able to be fully present for anyone.

I attended a beautiful birth last night, and am working through some trauma release to be present for all the other wonderful clients I have on my schedule.

I am fortunate to have chosen a path where I truly love what I do, and I can say my job brings me so much joy and so many wonderful people into my life. I appreciate you all.

If you are waiting on a photo gallery from me, I appreciate your continued patience. I am doing the absolute best I can to make sure I get all galleries to everyone as soon as possible.

I am also continuing to accept new doula and doula/photo clients as well.

Thanks so much for reading ❤️

03/12/2022

I’ve always wanted to shoot a maternity session with some snow falling — so the universe said, “I got you!” and created an hour of beautiful snow fall which was magical 🥰

I love maternity sessions, and especially with a toddler I photographed as a teeny tiny freshie. I can’t wait to see how much she loves her new baby ❤️

Hire me as your birth doula or doula+photographer and receive a 10% discount on maternity and newborn photos. You won’t regret the support + the memories ❤️

03/10/2022

SMILE — it’s almost Friday! Which really means nothing to me because I work on weekends, but whatever 🤣❤️

So many midwives/doulas/birth workers get excited about placentas — which I admit are cool, but me, I get stoked about umbilical cords!

The umbilical cord is ultimately what brings life giving nutrients to your baby, and removes waste products. It reaches its final form at about the 12th week of pregnancy, when the placenta starts completely taking over for the yolk sac.

You can see the two umbilical arteries at the top which carry deoxygenated blood and waste away from baby, and the “smile” at the bottom, which is the umbilical vein that carries nutrients and oxygen to baby.

Surrounding all of this in a little hug is a substance called Wharton’s Jelly that protects the cord from getting too pinched and squeezed by baby gymnastics in utero.

After baby is born, the umbilical cord continues to move blood back and forth for about 3-5 minutes while baby makes the transition to breathing air. Our bodies are so cool!!!

03/04/2022

A week ago in the wee hours of the morning I was present for the beautiful water birth of this little one. His mama worked so hard to have the birth she had been dreaming of. This was my second birth with this lovely family.

One aspect I love about water birth is how the pool/tub creates a little cocoon around mom and baby and there’s often a nice little window of time with just observance and wonder at the miracle that just happened 🥰

I have been terrible at sharing birth and baby photos over the past two years so I have a lot to share!

*Please note, everything I share is always pre-approved by parents.

03/02/2022

23 years ago at 9:00 am (birth time a total guess), I gave birth to this little man - who is now a very big man 🥰

I had been having what felt like Braxton Hicks contractions all night, but they weren’t painful and I was able to sleep through them. When I woke up I felt like “this could be the day” but had no real signs to tell me that, it was just a feeling. So we sent off my then 8 year old Kyle and his almost 2 year old sister to school and as I walked back into the house I started to feel something shift.

I squatted down on the floor — I can’t remember why, and all of the sudden there was a POP I felt though my whole body, and clear fluid started pouring out. That was at 8:30 am. He was born at “9:00 am” in our jetted garden tub at home with just my OB/GYN husband and I present.

No, having an OB present did not make it “less stressful,” I had to remind him to get heart tones after my water broke and then he forgot about my placenta 🤣

After Zack was born I had forgotten my house cleaner was scheduled for 10 am so she showed up surprised, excited, and thrilled to meet our new baby and clean up for us. Then my husband cooked me a steak, a baked potato, and a salad with bleu cheese dressing with a side of Diet Coke. It was pretty damn awesome.

That night my personal OB/GYN came over to visit (she lived around the block from us) and laughed at how everything went down. However, after I sent her clinic a birth announcement — you know the ones that get put up on the “baby board” I noticed they crossed out the “Born at Home” part of my announcement 🤣 I can only imagine the conversation that went into that.

Happy Birthday littler big man 🥰

03/01/2022

31 years ago today I gave birth to this guy. I was 18 (almost 19) and a freshman in college.

At almost 41 weeks, leaking fluid, and a massive shot of castor oil later (I honestly wish I hadn’t been recommended that last part), my labor started with a posterior labor vengeance and did not cease until his birth 42 hours later.

When I look birthing people in the eyes and say, “you can do this,” I am often thinking back to his birth and the strength I had to pull from myself that I didn’t even know I had.

No matter how you birth, the miracle of choosing to create a living being inside your body —or even through another person is the embodiment of strength.
You’ve got this! And if you need some help along the way, I’ve got you ❤️

Happy Birth Day Little Big Man ❤️

01/30/2022

On January 12th I was honored to be present for the birth of this little man 🥰 And since I’m terrible at posting, you can see some of their adorable maternity images below this post.

I can’t wait to watch him grow! Welcome to the party, little buddy ❤️

12/21/2021

I cannot wait to meet this BABY 🎉

I’ve been photographing this family since their first was born and I’m so excited to be there for baby #3!!!

Anya Wait Photo and Doula

07/27/2023

04/22/2023

04/21/2023

12/30/2022

10/04/2022

03/12/2022

03/10/2022

03/04/2022

03/02/2022

03/01/2022

01/30/2022

12/21/2021

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