Eat your heart out Kate Middleton — less than 48 hours after having her baby, Susy Bernardo looked groomed, made-up and stylish in professional pictures taken at the hospital.
She commissioned the images to be taken with her brand new daughter, Chloe, while wearing a flowery robe that exactly matched the infant’s swaddle.
“I wanted to look back on the photographs,” says the 32-year-old from Nutley, NJ, who first posted them on Instagram. “It was important to capture those intimate first moments.”
Bernardo’s September 2018 portrait session with New Jersey lenswoman Marina Ferreira is part of a growing trend among moms who see the birth of their child as the ultimate photo opportunity.
Just as a perfectly coiffed and manicured Duchess of Cambridge posed on the steps of the Lindo Wing a few hours after she welcomed her three royal babies into the world, mere mortals are stepping up their game.
A new study by online beauty company Cosmetify found the average mom applies make-up within two-and-a-half hours of delivery and the top reason is to look good on camera.
Almost a quarter of the 2,000 British women surveyed felt it was down to the pressure from social media to appear “presentable.”
“I didn’t go over-the-top, but I wanted to feel good about myself,” says Bernardo, who had a relatively straightforward 12-hour labor last fall.
“It’s a little bit of self-care,” adds Ferreira, of To The Moon Portraits, which charges $350 for a so-called “Fresh 48-hour Birthplace” photography session. “Everyone always wants to look good.”
Another mom, Christina Palazzo, agrees. The legal administrator went to great lengths to be camera-ready following the deliveries of her daughters, Vivienne and Rebecca, in 2012 and 2014.
“I’ve seen a lot of atrocious, sweaty pictures posted on the internet just after people have given birth,” says the 39-year-old from Eastchester, NY. “Obviously, the baby’s health is the most important thing, but that doesn’t mean you have to look bad.”
Palazzo, who was photographed within 24 hours of Vivienne’s arrival by the newborn portrait company Bella Baby (which has contracts with hospitals throughout the country) styled her hair in between contractions.
“I wanted nice pictures before, during and after the birth,” she tells The Post. She even sent a humorous selfie to her boss mid-way through labor to prove her absence from the office was real.
“Everyone who knows me would expect me to be wearing my make-up,” Palazzo jokes.