This season, our editorial team found ourselves in a rare — but beautiful — dilemma: we couldn’t choose just one cover.

As we sifted through the final shortlist, these two images kept calling us back. Each one, in its own way, spoke powerfully to the heart of this issue.

On one cover, photographed by Carmen Bridgewater (@carmen.bridgewater), a just-born baby is wrapped in bold, beautiful cloth, cradled in the gloved hands of their midwife — tender, calm, already held with care. On the other, captured by Madyson Stites (@ejbirthingservices), a baby is lifted to the chest, vernix still glistening, freshly emerged from their journey earthside.

Both images reflect birth in all its truth: unfiltered, raw, sacred.

Together, they embody the spirit of this issue — a guided journey from prenatal to postpartum, grounded in realness, not polish.

We were especially moved by how these photos resonate with Trinity’s first catch and road to midwifery, our featured story by a Black student midwife sharing the first birth she ever attended as the primary — and the whole journey of her calling. It’s a story of stepping into purpose and carrying legacy — and we wanted our cover(s) to meet that energy.

But beyond one story, these images reflect what Everyday Birth Magazine stands for. We are a publication created for this space — for this community — where birth isn’t blurred out, cropped small, or hidden behind “opt-in to see” warnings. We center birth. We honor it. And we show it in its fullness.

So for this issue, we chose to lead with both covers. We’ll be printing them in equal numbers and including each cover image as a full-color postcard inside the opposite edition — so no matter which copy you hold, you’ll get to see and celebrate both.

Because this story isn’t just one picture. It’s all of it.

‍