Go-To Maternity Poses for Your Photoshoot
Pregnancy can be a tricky time for a lot of people. Your body is changing rapidly, sometimes it even feels like it’s changing by the hour! One moment there’s acid reflux for a formerly “safe” food and the next a food aversion. It can feel impossible to keep up! With almost a decade of photographing pregnant clients, I understand that when it comes to your photos that same sense of instability may also exist. We spend so many years with the idea that our body looks a certain way, and, even though we may be thrilled to expect a baby, it can also throw off your sense of self when you experience these rapid changes. However, I’m here to help!
I want you to feel your absolute best during your maternity session. While I may not be able to help you quickly adapt to all the other changes that baby is bringing your way, I can help you create stunning images that will help you remember this season of life in a beautiful light (pun intended). In this article, I’d like to share some of my top maternity poses for those of you that like to feel prepared. Please remember though, I really don’t need you to practice beforehand, but, if you’re like me, you may want to prepare beforehand (hooray for my fellow Type A personalities – it’s exhausting being us!).
Above all, the best thing that you can do for your maternity photos is show up. I truly mean that. So many people get in their head about this time or tell themselves that they can wait until later on in their pregnancy to get images, that they never get around to it at all. Each and every pregnancy is different and deserves to be documented. Plus, you may be like me where plans change and you end up with only one baby. It would have been a huge regret of mine to have not captured this time, acne and all. So, if you’re on the fence about when/if to schedule, please just reach out and we can figure it out together.
Typically, the best time to plan a maternity photoshoot is between 28-34 weeks of pregnancy, but a lot of factors can impact that ballpark range. If you have a history of going into pre-term labor or we’re doing a water shoot, you may want to schedule earlier. If you’re ultra petite, a first time parent, or have an anterior placenta, we may want to schedule on the latter end of that scale. The best thing to keep in mind though, is that the earlier you reach out and we start planning, the more time we have to work with. Few things make me more sad than when people reach out and it’s either too late in their pregnancy to safely get them the images they want or my schedule is too full to accommodate them. Plus, the earlier we start planning, the more magic we can create!
So, without further ado, here are some of my go-to pregnancy poses!
Tummy Shot
What’s more classic than a beautiful, close-up belly shot? You may not love the idea of this now, but I promise, you’ll treasure it down the road. To get this shot, I typically have my pregnant client stand at about a 3/4 angle to the camera with their hand closest to the camera under their stomach and their hand further from the camera above stomach. This is a perfect shot to include your partner in too! It’s so intimate to have their hands on top of yours or cradling your bump. It definitely symbolizes that you’re all in this journey together!
Typical Maternity Side Profile
After a tummy shot or two, I typically back up and then make some micro adjustments to get my client ready to have more than just their baby bump in the images. With pregnancy photos, we want to create flattering angles, and that starts with the feet! Typically, I’ll ask my client to bend their knee that’s closest to the camera so that we don’t have a flat-footed pose. Hands can stay in the same position, and then we can also make adjustments to create more images that feel different. Typically, this shot can look beautiful full length, at a 3/4 crop and from hips up.
With Partner or Older Children
I love incorporating your partner and/or older children into your maternity photoshoot! Typically, we start off our shoots trying to get any family shots out of the way. This way we can wrap up that portion of the shoot before younger children get antsy and parents get stressed. Let’s try to make this as fun and as positive of an experience as we can for everyone. If you have younger children (toddler age), it’s best to pack some non-staining snacks and if you have an extra trusted adult that can come along to help, even better! Having an extra set of hands can also be great because after we wrap up the family portion of the shoot, they can take the children to a nearby coffeeshop for a treat or a playground. It’s so important with younger children to use positive reinforcement and tell them how wonderful they’re doing! This can set the stage for them enjoying future family photos and doing a great job during them.
Reflection Shots
This is one of my most requested photos. It’s stunning to have a reflection of a pregnant client laying down with a crystalline reflection underneath them. This is also a great way to include your partner, or to save after baby is here and create a composite where the pregnant version of you is in the reflection, but the top image is of you cradling your little one.
Where to Put Your Hands (and Why It Matters)
Hands are the detail that gives a maternity photo away. Cupping the bump from underneath and above frames it and keeps the arms from flattening against the body. One hand high on the chest and one low on the belly reads as tender rather than posed.
Keep fingers relaxed and slightly separated, and never press into the skin — pressure flattens the bump and creates lines in the photograph. If your hands feel awkward, give them a job: hold the fabric of your gown, touch your partner, or brush your hair back.
Seated/Suspended
A lot of pregnant people are hesitant to do seated shots. They worry that they’ll lose the distinction of their tummy and it will create unflattering images. However, these can be done well and a lot of it comes down to posing. We want to make sure to define the stomach and draw attention towards it. This can be done by using fitted clothing, hand placement, and angles. I love to create natural feeling images of you and your partner snuggled on a couch. It can feel much more relaxed than standing in the middle of a backdrop. Another popular shot I often have expectant clients request is a suspended shot. Disclaimer: we NEVER actually suspend pregnant people. These images are created by having the pregnant client sit on a stable surface (a small table/step stool/chair) that can be photoshopped out later. This creates the illusion of being suspended while mitigating the risk of a fall.
There are SO many more beautiful poses I’d love to guide you through! If you book a session with me, I’ll make sure that we design something together that checks all of your boxes. Each pregnancy is beautiful, and I’d love to make sure yours is documented. Plus, kids love seeing when they were in your tummy later!
Underwater Maternity Poses
Water removes the weight from your body, which is why so many mothers find an underwater session the most comfortable maternity shoot they do. Gravity stops working against your back, and fabric that would hang flat on land drifts around the bump instead.
The poses that work underwater are simple: a gentle arch with both hands on the belly, a slow turn so the gown wraps around you, and a suspended seated pose where the fabric fans out below. Eyes open, chin lifted, and slow exaggerated movement — water eats subtlety.
What to Wear so the Poses Work
Fitted at one point and flowing everywhere else is the formula. A gown that hugs under the bust and then falls away shows the bump clearly while the rest of the fabric creates movement.
Bring a second, simpler look — a bodysuit or a plain slip — so we have both the dramatic frames and the quiet, timeless ones. Solid colours photograph better than busy prints, and jewel tones hold their saturation on camera far better than pale pastels.
When to Book Your Maternity Session
Between 28 and 34 weeks is the sweet spot. The bump is unmistakably round, and most mothers still have the energy and mobility to move comfortably through a full session. Earlier than 26 weeks the shape is often not obvious in photographs; after 36 weeks comfort becomes the limiting factor.
If you are expecting twins, move everything forward by roughly three to four weeks.
Maternity Pose Questions I Get Asked
Which maternity pose is the most flattering? A three-quarter turn toward the camera with the far arm cradling the bump — it defines the belly and slims the torso at the same time.
How many poses should we plan? Five to eight core poses per outfit is plenty. Most of the variation in a final gallery comes from angle and light, not from new positions.
Should my partner or older children be in the photos? If they matter to you, yes. Those frames are almost always the ones parents print.
Can I do maternity poses if I have back pain? Yes — seated, reclining and underwater poses take the load off completely, and we build the session around what feels good on the day.
