Heather Gallagher Photography & Doula Care

01/19/2026

Thanks for your patience y’all! If you’d like to continue to support my photography & doula work, please follow me .gallagher . This account will now be used for my writing work 📝. Stay tuned!

12/10/2025

Last week Frankie and I had our very last breastfeeding session. Three and a half years with him and six and a half years with Lee makes for TEN combined years of breastfeeding (with a 1.5 year break, 41 weeks of which I was pregnant with Frankie). Next week I turn 40 so that means I have breastfed for 1/4 of my life(!!). It’s been one of the hardest and most fulfilling parts of my life and while making the decision to wean was difficult, once I committed to seeing it through, it’s felt incredibly freeing to live into that. Now I’m getting used to having my body all to myself and releasing the mental load of making sure every outfit is breastfeeding friendly or checking the label of every tea I drink.
I’ve really enjoyed not posting on here for a while, not for lack of new work content but because life has been so full IRL and honestly this place feels less and less relevant in my life. That said, I’m really proud of myself and thought it deserved a spot on the grid!

03/10/2025

03/09/2025

Some of my favorite images that I’ve taken of incredible women over the years. 🤍

03/07/2025

I think it’s safe to say that it’s harder and harder to know where people’s hearts and motivation’s lie these days. Unfortunately, now when I see an American flag outside of a house I immediately get that sinking feeling of, oh no you must have voted for Trump and all feelings of safety go out the window.
Everyone has a different lens of what safety is and so I want to be perfectly clear about who I am and who I am not so whoever is reading this can make their own decisions about where to put their trust.

I am the daughter of a Deaf, Chinese mother who immigrated to the US at age 35. She worked multiple jobs as a janitor and restaurant kitchen staff with a third grade comprehension of English. To me this doesn’t elicit pity or shame, it’s fu***ng badass.

I am someone who grew up in one of the most densely populated Black counties in America (Prince George’s, babyy) and am a product of the public school system. I was one of 10 non Black students in my graduating class. I grew up seeing Black excellence everywhere as well as folks who are average and struggling because guess what, no group of people is a monolith! I do see color. Racism is real and it’s disgusting.

I am a birth worker who does not give a flying f**k how you give birth or what your gender is. Scheduled c section? Great! You’re in my cal and I’ll meet you in recovery with some soup. Home birth in your back yard? Rad, I’ll bring bug spray. What I do care about is: your pronouns and were you given choices? Did you feel like your medical provider talked TO you and not AT you? Was there informed consent?
And I’m PRO abortion (and absolutely NO one is aborting full term babies, g**o here).

I’m the mother of two children who are 8 years apart. One born in Texas and the other born here in VT because Texas (yes, even Austin) became a place we could no longer feel aligned with politically. Our family, blood and chosen, includes trans, q***r and differently able folks from all over the world. And if you come for them, I’ll come for you (IYKYK).

02/17/2025

More from my day of business portrait mini sessions in collaboration with held 📸💅🏽💼

First five images of the lovely team who focus on inclusive care for expecting and new parents with a mission to get more dads into therapy 🙌🏼! They also work with children using a play based model in their beautiful office 🧸.

Last three images are of Dr. Dana Dabransky of Infinity Integrative Health who provides fertility, hormonal and mental health support in South Burlington.

02/16/2025

In a world that feels scary and on the wrong side of just about everything, where I find the most beauty is in Q***r love and family building. PERIOD.

02/15/2025

A couple weeks ago I did a full day of business portrait mini sessions for 8 different female identifying practitioners ranging from body workers, psychologists, doulas, fertility specialists and pelvic floor therapists. This event was in collaboration with and it was a wonderful opportunity to not just update imagery for marketing needs but to come together as a community of business owners with a shared mission of supporting birthing people and new parents, resource share and spark ideas for future collaborations. Big thank you to our wonderful models and to for providing the perfect space to gather and shoot. Teamwork makes the dream work, y’all! ✨🫂

These images are from my 30 minute session with Dawn Goode who specializes in pre/postnatal massage and welcomes babies in arms for sessions! Dawn is also a birth and postpartum doula. More images to come from this wonderful day of community and collaboration. 🤍

02/13/2025

New work for lymphatic drainage witch ✨🌊

06/23/2020

Have you listened to Episode 48 of yet? It’s called 𝘔𝘺 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥 and it was my honor to record and document so many incredible stories and portraits of Black fathers here in Austin and amplify them in collaboration with this beautiful podcast. ⁣
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If you haven’t already, please give it a listen (full transcript available via swipe up in my stories) and while you’re there, subscribe. Birth Stories in Color is an incredible and much needed program dedicated to sharing empowering and informative stories of birth from families of color. ⁣
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And for all of you who are are just now waking up to what so many of us have already known about society and racism, wondering 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯? It’s at the beginning- birth.
𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 to BIPOC folks from the beginning. Whether they are a birthing person or not, 𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐍.
And after you listen, act. In real-time and every day, whether you like it or not. Forever and ever. ⁣
Start here and never stop.