From nurse to photographer, Bradenton mom wins international birth photo competition
.jpg "Self-portrait of Jessica Miles, a former labor and delivery nurse at Manatee Memorial Hospital, who is now an award-winning international birth photographer.")
A former labor and delivery nurse at Manatee Memorial Hospital has won an international birth photography competition.
Jessica Miles, a 44-year-old mother of two from Bradenton, recently won in the International Association of Professional Birth Photographers 2022 competition for best overall postpartum photo.
“On a whim, I submitted that one image, and I’m shocked it won best overall.”
The photo she submitted is titled “Twins First Latch,” which shows a Bradenton mother breastfeeding two newborns at once.
“I knew it was a rare shot when I took it,” Miles said.
Since winning the competition, “Twins First Latch” has been published in multiple media outlets in the United States, Spain and Australia.
She started working as a photographer full-time after being diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome — a hereditary disorder of the connective tissue — in 2016. She decided to end her career as a birth nurse because of the multiple surgeries she had to undergo to treat her condition.
Her first time photographing a birth was when her sister gave birth to her niece and asked her to take pictures. Miles comes from a family of healthcare professionals in the area —her mom and two sisters are nurses and her dad is a physician.
From there, she said her career snowballed.
“Every nurse who got pregnant wanted me to photograph their births, and the physicians’ wives who got pregnant, I took pictures of all their deliveries.”
Miles has photographed home births and deliveries at Manatee Memorial Hospital, Lakewood Ranch Medical Center and Sarasota Memorial Hospital.
She is the only photographer to shoot live births at Manatee Memorial. She’s also photographed other surgical procedures for the hospital to use as marketing materials.
Even though she shoots self-portraits, maternity photos and family portraits, she says birth photography is more rewarding.
“It allows me to be still involved in the birth process and at the hospital,” she said. “I’m getting to do both of my passions, labor and delivery and photography in one.”
To see more of Miles’ photos go to her Instagram profile at @jessica_k_miles or call her at 941-504-9583.
