BirthTube: Live Streamed Births Are Becoming a Thing

Live streaming is all the rage. People all over the world are using this technology to keep up with their social circle, promote their businesses, and even capture historic events in real-time. Weddings, graduations, elections, speeches, political events, natural disasters - we can watch them all unfold on our phones and tablets from wherever we are. 

And now, some parents are choosing to hit "go live" on a very different important event: the birth of their child. 

While not the first person to live stream her birth, Paige LoPinto, a Texas mom of two, recently brought awareness of live-streamed births to a larger audience on Facebook with a group called BirthTUBE. Paige helped to normalize family-centered pregnancy and birthing by live streaming her preparations for birth, her prenatal appointments with her midwives, and the actual labor and delivery itself. 

Live streaming a birth could be very exciting. Besides contributing to the normalization of birth and providing a great science lesson, you could also have the opportunity to receive helpful and uplifting comments and advice from viewers throughout the strenuous process of labor. You may enjoy having a video to look back on in the future to remember the birth. 

However, opening up your birth to the world could come with some drawbacks as well. We all know how "Internet trolls" like to swoop in and make judgmental comments, which could cause unpleasant emotions and feelings when associated with your birth. You may give birth in the middle of the night, when not as many people will be notified to watch. And finally, the possibility of an unwanted outcome can deter parents from wanting to go live. 

There are more women gearing up to go live when they go into labor: watch their updates at BirthTUBE, plus watch the replay of Paige LoPinto's pregnancy and birth live videos. 

Would you live stream your labor and delivery? Why or why not?