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Why ARE Women Posting Their Birth Videos Online For Strangers To Watch?

It takes a confident woman to post her entire labour online for the world to view...

For most women, giving birth is an incredibly private affair – lots of women don’t even want their partner in the room so they aren’t subjected to the less-pleasant side of it all.

And plenty of women who decide to share post-birth selfies with their newborn make sure they’ve applied a face of make-up and sorted out their hair before snapping away and uploading to Instagram.

Hands up if you've taken a post-birth selfie? [Rex]
Hands up if you've taken a post-birth selfie? [Rex]



Yet on the other hand, there are women who are happy to share their whole birth. And not just with their husband, but with the entire world.

It started with mums tweeting their entire way through their birth and now more and more women are filming the labour – and posting it online for any Tom, Dick or Harry to view.

And we’re not talking beautifully shot, edited short films; most of them feature the whole shebang. The sweating, the blood, the pushing, the crowing and the newborn’s arrival.

There is over a MILLION birth videos are available to view on YouTube alone - and goodness how many more elsewhere online.

It definitely takes a certain amount of confidence to post

Gemma filmed her entire baby son's birth [YouTube/Gemma Vaughan]
Gemma filmed her entire baby son's birth [YouTube/Gemma Vaughan]

a video like this online.

But one mum who’s done it, Gemma Vaughan, says it makes her feel great – and she isn’t at all concerned by the fact that she’s completely starkers in the vid.

“It really doesn’t bother me men on my street may have seen me naked and giving birth,” the 25-year-old mum, who posted the birth of her son Oliver online last year, told Mail Online.

“I’ve always thought of breasts as things to feed babies with rather than anything sexual.”

As you would expect, Gemma admits that she does get “the odd weirdo sending messages” but she simply ignores them. “If anything, I’m really pleased so many people have taken an interest in it.”

Gemma's has racked up over 18,000 views so far [YouTube/Gemma Vaughan]
Gemma's has racked up over 18,000 views so far [YouTube/Gemma Vaughan]



But while she’s a self-confessed vlogger, Gemma didn’t solely post the video, which you can watch here, to fulfill her dreams of Internet stardom.

She wanted to share the ‘true story’ of birth, which she feels many health professionals don’t share with mums-to-be.

“I attended birth classes and the midwives admitted they often kept the more negative aspects of pregnancy and childbirth from mothers because they didn’t want to scare them. My argument is that at least if you’re informed about what’s coming, you won’t be as scared when it does happen.”

Gemma’s birth and post-partum videos have provided lots of viewers with comfort, she says, as they are grateful to see her going through similar experiences – and admitted to problems.

Even celebrities have been getting in on this growing trend of posting mid-labour videos.

Robbie Williams has welcomed a baby boy after live tweeting a series of videos showing him and his wife in a delivery room in a US hospital.
Robbie Williams has welcomed a baby boy after live tweeting a series of videos showing him and his wife in a delivery room in a US hospital.



Robbie Williams made waves last year after tweeting videos and photos of his wife Ayda giving birth.

And while he left out anything remotely bloody or agonising (in fact, the whole labour seemed to be a walk in the park), it showed just how much everyone is willing to share these days.

Would you share your child’s birth with strangers? Let us know in the comments box below.

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