STORY | AMSTERDAM

A Baby Bump on a Bike Along the Canals

By Aleksandria Rudenko | Updated 2 November 2026

Expecting couple embracing on a canal bridge in Amsterdam, his hands on her baby bump, a church spire and an arched bridge behind

Anna and Lukas came from Munich for one more summer weekend as just the two of them, before their first child arrived. In August, we spent an hour on the Amsterdam canals with two rented city bikes. The happiest part of it? Her baby bump on a bike.

They had come for contemporary art, especially the Stedelijk, but also to mark this time together. They found my work online and booked their session in a few clicks.

Like all my family photoshoots in Amsterdam, this maternity session stayed in one picturesque area. I mapped out the route, so they had nothing to prepare.

Summer White on a Canal Bridge

We started on a bridge with a long view down the canal and a church spire at the far end. Anna wore a light white broderie dress with flat tan sandals. Lukas matched her in white too: a T-shirt with a leaf print, mustard-yellow shorts and white sneakers. Under a soft gray sky, those colors stayed fresh against the dark water. Then he wrapped his arms around her from behind, his hands on her bump, and that frame opens this story.

A bridge further on, the canal opened up wide, with boats moored along both banks.

Hand in hand at a bridge railing above a wide canal, she in a white summer dress and he in mustard shorts, boats moored behind them — A wide canal with moored boats, soft gray light in August

When I stepped closer, Lukas whispered something, and Anna laughed with both their hands on her bump.

Laughing couple with their hands on her baby bump, the eyelet sleeve of her white dress in view, a canal with moored boats blurred behind

A Baby Bump on a Bike

Next came the bikes. They had rented two for the weekend: a cream one with a front basket and a blue one. First, they simply rode side by side down a quiet canal street while I waited at the corner. After that, they wheeled the bikes over the cobbles toward me, still smiling.

Pregnant woman on a bike with a front basket, riding beside her partner down a tree-lined canal street, her baby bump under a white dress

Expecting parents wear white and mustard yellow for their maternity photos, wheeling a cream bike and a blue bike across the cobbles

Then I suggested something very Dutch: a baby bump on a bike. Anna sat sideways on the back of the cream bike, and Lukas pedaled slowly past an old lamppost. In front of a house with rainbow flags at the windows, she burst out laughing, and so did he.

Sitting sideways on the back of his bike in a white dress, she rides along as he pedals past an old lamppost and brick canal houses

She laughs on the back of his bike in front of a house with rainbow flags, her baby bump under a white dress, his hands on the handlebar — Rainbow flags on a house front in August

Bridges, Bikes and a Baby Bump

Afterward, we parked the bikes and walked on, past the rows of bikes that line every bridge here. On the first, they strolled across hand in hand.

Walking hand in hand across a canal bridge past parked bikes, the couple smiles, an orange-roofed gabled house behind them

Halfway across, Anna laughed and pointed at something along the canal, still holding Lukas’s hand.

She laughs and points along the canal while holding his hand, her baby bump under the white dress, a red bike and an old bridge behind

Between two blue bikes, Lukas rested a hand on her bump and leaned in for a kiss. Meanwhile, I kept my distance, so the tree-lined canal stayed in the frame.

His hand on her baby bump as he leans in for a kiss on a canal bridge between two blue bikes, the tree-lined canal stretching behind — A canal bridge lined with bikes, under a white summer sky

A little later, they crossed a bridge in front of two old gables. On the next one, he pulled her close, and she looked up at him, laughing.

Two old gabled canal houses behind a couple strolling across a bridge, her white dress and his mustard shorts bright on a gray day

Laughing woman looking up at her partner as he holds her close on a canal bridge, her hand on his back and canal houses blurred behind

Feet Over the Water

To finish, we found a low canal edge without a railing. Anna and Lukas sat down with their feet over the water, an arched bridge farther along.

Then I crossed to the other side of the canal. From there, they looked small against the tall houses, with parked bikes right in front of my lens. For a moment, they simply sat and watched the boats on the water.

Small on the far side of a canal, the couple sits at the water's edge behind a row of parked bikes and an old lamppost

Across the canal, the couple sits on the edge and waves, the handlebar of a bike blurred close in front of the lens

Seen from behind, the couple sits on a canal edge and looks across at a canal house with an orange door and two moored boats

Back in Germany, they chose a few favorites from their gallery and had them printed as cards. Later, those cards would announce the baby’s arrival to the whole family.

Wondering what to wear for photos like these? My guide to what to wear for maternity photos shows outfits from real sessions.

Expecting, and dreaming of your own baby bump on a bike? Discover how my family photoshoots in Amsterdam work.