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Why Did A Man Livestream His Wife Giving Birth On Facebook? He Seems To Have No Regrets

by Mara Flanagan

Plenty of moms-to-be would be nervous about having thousands of strangers peeking in on the delivery room. But for one California mom, bringing a new life into the world made for one amazing viral video. Why did a man Facebook stream his wife giving birth on Facebook? The family doesn't seem to have any regrets about sharing the experience.

Comedian Fakamalo Kihe Eiki chronicled his wife's experience in five separate videos. The first 25-minute livestream focused on waiting for the baby to arrive; Eiki appeared to be sitting in the hospital room with his wife, the two of them chatting as they prepared for the big event. Eiki wrote in the caption, "Did I tell you I HATE WAITING." Unfortunately, there was still more waiting ahead: the second 25-minute video includes more shots of a flickering television and Eiki's wife in bed. Several hospital personnel made a brief appearance to talk to the mom-to-be preparing to give birth, but it was still slow going. Eiki's wife was giggly at the start of the third video; the couple joked around for the better part of 4 minutes and 30 seconds. The video was captioned, in part, "Well. .. waiting on contractions sucks...."

Then, the laughter ends and the birth begins. The next video is about 16 minutes and showed nurses in the delivery room preparing Eiki's wife for the events ahead. The final video is about 45 minutes and gives a full account of the birth process, from contractions to pushing. At around 40 minutes, the new mom and dad get to meet their baby. Friends gave their blessings in the comments, and Eiki thanked everyone for watching: "Thanks guys for enjoying the gift of life with me... lol come celebrate next weekend bbq if in area...."

According to Fusion, the livestream of an actual birth ended before he needed to dash off to court. In the video he said, "He better not come out while I’m in court. I could have delivered the baby at home, I’m telling you." The new mom was probably just as glad to finally hold her baby: Cosmopolitan reported that the live-streamed birth video actually chronicled portions of 19 hours in labor.

Bedside broadcasting isn't for everyone, but Facebook Live viewers got a seriously unexpected surprise this morning when they got to share in one family's magical moment.