Kristin, specializing in newborn, ʙɪʀᴛʜ, and ᴍᴀᴛᴇʀɴɪᴛʏ photography, considers herself lucky to have witnessed the one-of-a-kind ʙɪʀᴛʜ session of Brooke Ellington who had a special doula, a corgi named Ranger. Brooke’s Family holds a special place in Kristin’s ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ, since this was’t the first time she’s photographed Brooke during ʟᴀʙᴏʀ and ɢɪᴠɪɴɢ ʙɪʀᴛʜ. Ranger lives with his mama Brooke Ellington in Midland, Texas. She has two sons and hired Kristin Waner of Kristin Ann Photo to capture images of the home ʟᴀʙᴏʀ and ᴅᴇʟɪᴠᴇʀʏ of her third child. Waner previously took photos for the ʙɪʀᴛʜ of Ellington’s son Boyd two years ago — when a different ᴘᴏᴜᴄʜ was part of the pack.

The previous time there was Ryder, Brooke’s Corgi, assisting her like a doula during the ʙɪʀᴛʜ of her first child Boyd, while this time it was the turn of Ranger the Corgi to assist Brooke during the ʙɪʀᴛʜ of Berkeley. That’s when sweet Ranger joined the family — and clearly there’s something to the corgi breed when it comes to helping their owners through ʙɪʀᴛʜ, because Ranger was up to the task just like Ryder before him. Just look at this Very Good Boy quietly resting his head on Ellington’s pillow as she goes through ʟᴀʙᴏʀ.

All throughout these difficult moments, Kristin witnessed in first person Ranger being by his mom’s side, comforting her during ʟᴀʙᴏʀ and ʙɪʀᴛʜ ᴘᴀɪɴs. Just like Ryder, Ranger would show his love and care by letting Brooke hug him, kiss him, and just provide a calming presence for Brooke whenever she had ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴs. From the bed, to the ʙɪʀᴛʜing ᴛᴜʙ, until he finally got to see his human sister, Ranger made sure he was doing his best to support for the family being a good boy. Waner said Ranger was very caring and loving toward Brooke the whole day. She explained: “When we moved to the ʙɪʀᴛʜing ᴛᴜʙ, Brooke progressed so fast. There were moments of laughter and moments of ᴘᴀɪɴ watching her overcome each ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ.”

Luckily, Kristin took as many pictures as she could of such a wonderful, once-in-a-lifetime experience, and now we can all get a glimpse of how it’s like to have a Corgi as a doula. Waner said: “He did not leave her side at all during the ʙɪʀᴛʜ process. He was an amazing doula. It was a beautiful thing to watch — the bond between mom and baby and man’s best friend.” Waner is a self-described ᴅᴏɢ-ᴏʙsᴇssᴇᴅ person so it was easy for her to snap a ton of photos. And of course, the pictures of Ranger helping his human during ʟᴀʙᴏʀ have been very popular on social media sites already.

Kristin’s first experience with a doula dog was with Ryder, her first Corgi. He was with Brooke when she gave ʙɪʀᴛʜ to her second baby, Boyd, volunteering as a huggable furry companion to somehow ease her mom’s ᴘᴀɪɴ. Kristin said: “We did not expect for it to get this big but we are so glad it has helped open a dialog for expecting moms. ʙɪʀᴛʜ is a beautiful thing and we love how everyone is enjoying sweet Berkeley and Ranger’s story.”