Meet Paulina Splechta | On-Call Birth Photographer in South Florida

We had the good fortune of connecting with Paulina Splechta and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Paulina, putting aside the decision to work for yourself, what other decisions were critical to your success?
Other than deciding to work for yourself, what was the singe most important decision you made that contributed to your success?

Birth is incredibly unpredictable, even with my scheduled c-sections and scheduled inductions in Boca Hospitals, I get calls at 3am in the middle of the night from women saying they are having contractions, or their water broke, days and sometimes weeks before their scheduled delivery date, making it absolutely impossible to say that someone’s birth is scheduled, which means that I have absolutely no schedule when it comes to my work. I am always “on” when it comes to my Birth Photography clients. When I want a break, I wait until I am no longer “on-call” for any client and then quickly take a couple day trip with my family or simply turn off my cell phone’s volume. Otherwise, I am absolutely always on-call for my Birth Photography clients here in South Florida.

Being On-Call is absolutely hands down what was one of the single most important decisions I ever made that contributed to my success. Please find me a photographer that is willing to miss their child’s birthday party, or Christmas, or their 10th year wedding anniversary dinner, or be away from home for 30 hours while their child is home sick with a fever with their spouse, knowing full well once they come home from that long, long birth, its another 6 to 8 hours of sleep and not being present for your own family. Yes, there are few of us On-Call Birth Photographers across the globe. I can count just a few hundred globally. While you may think a few hundred Birth Photographers globally is a lot, compare it to SLR lounge’s boasted 2.4 million wedding photographers globally that according to Fortune Business Insights brought in $20.44 billion dollars in 2022 in the Wedding Photography Market. The Birth Photography industry is still in its infant stages globally and even in the United States. And what makes it so small, intimate, and slow growing is that it takes a special blend of personality traits to make this business model a success for a Photographer. To be a successful Birth Photographer you absolutely need to be patient, have a well established working knowledge of the physiology of birth, have stellar communication with your Birth Photography clients, know how to use your gear in a pitch dark room where everything is moving quickly and there are no retakes. But among all the traits that makes a Birth Photographer successful the single most important decision is to be loyal to the on-call life. Being on-call is such a strain on your mental and physical well being and an even bigger strain on your relationships. I have lost count how many times I’ve said “Of course I wouldn’t miss your birthday party for the world… unless I’m at a birth.” In fact, I’ve been fired from a dental practice for missing too many appointments simply because I was at births.
But regardless of the strains that being an on-call birth photographer has put on my life, I love the work that I do, and I remain loyal to my clients by way of being on-call without a flaw.
Being on-call 24 hours per day, 7 days a week has allowed me to answer my phone every single time a client has called me whether during the day or in the middle of the night (about 99% of my clients call me in labor in the middle of the night between the hours of midnight and 5am). Being available to answer your phone in the middle of the night, or in the middle of a grocery shopping trip, or in the middle of your daughter’s birthday party has allowed me to successfully arrive at my clients births within an hour, and it has always helped maintain my integrity in the birthing community as consistent and reliable. And when you have made great friends and colleagues in the birthing community in South Florida, from its Labor Doulas to its OBGYNs and Midwives to Labor and Delivery Nurses and Anesthesiologists, you are consistently seen as an organic member of birth teams, and having that trust that you show up for every single Birth Photography client because you don’t let them down by never turning off your phone volume makes absolutely all the difference in building a successful Birth Photography business, whether in South Florida or anywhere in the World.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I love this question, because I constantly tell people, there is nothing special about me, I am just like you, we are all humans, we are all artists in some unique way, and the only thing that makes me who I am is that I absolutely love what I do and I love the families I work with, and that pure passion and love for my work is what drives my engine to give 100% of myself to my work and my clients all the time. Working on-call is incredibly draining and it often entirely takes over your life. I often tell people that if I did not love what I do and if I did not love the clients I work with and the Midwives, doulas, OBGYNs, birth centers and hospitals I work alongside of, I would absolutely not have a career where I am on-call. What makes being on-call completely worth it to me is my passion for the work I do. And I am proud to say that with this year being my 10th year anniversary working on-call in South Florida as a Birth Photographer, I have absolutely not lost one bit of my fire as a birth photographer. What makes this work so worth it are hands down, absolutely the people. The moms and dads, grandparents, aunties and uncles, the midwives, the amazing doctors, the incredibly committed and passionate labor doulas, the older brothers and sisters, all of these incredible people, watching them experience and take part in bring new babies into our world, and capturing their emotions and reactions has been the single handedly most fulfilling experience of my life, and being in love with that as much as I am is what I would say maybe sets me apart from others. I don’t know what is the driving force behind other Birth Photographers, I know we all come from a varying background of experiences and passions and we’re all in this for varying reasons, but my reasons are absolutely human connection. And I am so proud to say that in these 10 years, I’ve consistently been proud of how much I love my connections with all the incredible human beings I’ve had the honor to meet during childbirth, and I have been proud of capturing their connections with each other.
And I hope that the love I have for human connection and emotions and reactions through these connections shines through every single image I capture.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
This is constantly a question in the back of my mind as all my family and friends live out of town, so I am always trying to draw up an itinerary for when they come, but its not as easy as you think because one fact about me is that I am absolutely a home-body, so my ideal week long trip is chilling at home and spending quality time! But I do love a great science museum/zoo, so on my bucket list is a trip to the Frost Science Museum, Aquarium & Planetarium in Miami, which I hear you can travel to by Brightline train. Palm Beach Zoo is another great one, and Miami Zoo is massive. I always love driving to the west coast of Florida and Naples is only 2 hours away, you can hit up an Italian restaurant and walk down to the beach. Of course our beaches in South Florida are stunning and I recommend Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Jupiter as my favorite three. I am not a big fan of overcrowded beaches in Broward and Dade, however, there are some hidden coves and areas near Dania Beach you can luck out with some privacy. We have amazing sushi spots in Broward and Palm Beach County, and being a foodie I definitely would make a list of go to restaurants, along with New York Prime Steakhouse. A ride on the intercostal to see all the mansions can be fun if you’re into that sort of thing, as well as paddle boarding, kayaking and a visit to Gumbo Limbo with the Turtle Sanctuary in Boca Raton.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I cannot say enough good things about Samara Andreadis, Labor Doula at The Orchid Nest in Delray Beach, FL. I met Samara years ago when I was a new mom to two kiddos, having just had a second c-section birth with my second daughter, and she was the doula to one of my clients planning a Vaginal Birth after a Cesarean. When we arrived at this birth, what really struck me about Samara is how incredibly authentic and sincere she was to my Birth Photography client. When it comes to Samara, what you see is absolutely what you get, and what you get is pure absolute magic. She is such an inspiration to me, not only is she such a present mom who gets in the water with her kids, she’s literally at the beach constantly, and an amazing cook, but she is such a down to earth human being you just enjoy being around all the time. I feel incredibly luck, like a star kissed me with blessings to have met her and be able to call her a friend. Any woman planning to birth in South Florida should hands down interview Samara to be her potential labor doula, because she is a treasure of a human being and so so trusted!

Website: www.paulinasplechta.com

Instagram: psplechta_birthphotography

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulina-splechta-093983147/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/paulinasplechta

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/paulina-splechta-photography-boca-raton-2

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/PaulinaSplechta?app=desktop