Yes, It Is

A photographic documentary essay addressing the complexities of care in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Despite the medical challenges many of these newborns face, parental love and medical care will overcome these barriers.

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39 weeks.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that is the amount of time it takes for a pregnancy to complete, from conception to delivery. But what happens when that time shrinks, to 36 weeks, 30 weeks, 26 weeks? What happens when life puts you one step back before you even start? Yes, It Is serves to answer that question.

Over the course of 9 months, I have partnered with the Duke Department of Pediatrics and Division of Neonatology to follow multiple families from different socio-economic backgrounds and from different regions of North Carolina.

The photographs here capture the emotions, thoughts, and feelings of the mothers and fathers as they wait patiently for the day their newborn can come back home. These newborns were in varying stages of care, with some spending their days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and others in comparatively better health, in the Transitional Care Nursery.

Each newborn faced unique challenges, each family faced varying levels of financial, social, and personal pressures. Despite the difficult situation, I asked each family the same question: is it as special as you imagined?

Yes, It Is.

This exhibit is a documentary narrative of the people of North Carolina, the special moment of childbirth that brings us together, and a celebration of the physicians, nurses, and health providers that make even the toughest of times bearable.

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Photographs were used with consent. Release and HIPAA forms may be shown at request.