Woman to live-stream birth of her child

This is the moment when a live stream will become a love stream.

A 23-year-old teacher from Minnesota named Lynsee, who is withholding her last name to preserve her anonymity, has decided not to withhold your fascination with every moment of the birth of her first child.

She has chosen to broadcast what some would describe as the most personal moment of their lives. Yes, you can watch her first born emerge into this vibrant but confused world. Live on MomsLikeMe.com.

Some will feel this is media exposure gone beyond the bounds of filmic exposition. But Lynsee, who has already been describing her pregnancy in some considerable detail to her more than 1,300 followers on the site, is adamant that this will be an educational experience.

She told ABCNews.com: "If I were in a classroom, I'd be teaching about development. It was a way for me to teach...A way for me to use myself as a textbook."

When it comes to childbirth, there can never be too much education.

(Credit: CC Brainware3000/Flickr)

I know that those of a more technical, or indeed, merely curious bent, will be wondering about some of the details surrounding this made-for-TV spectacular.

Well, her husband, Anders, will be with her. As will her mom. Look, please don't ask me about these conventions. But does one really need one's mom in there? Perhaps, one supposes, if she's a nice lady.

Gosh, I almost forgot the cameraman. Yes, he will be in the birthing room, as will a second camera, delicately positioned in the corner to capture alternative views.

Strangely, though, Lynsee told ABCNews.com that there will not be any "graphic" over-the-midwife's-shoulder shots. Some might feel that if the point of the video truly is education, then it should enlighten rather than conceal.

However, I am sure that this live-stream no-pay-per-view event, which ought to occur in the next few days, can serve a positive purpose.

There will be those who might wonder, after the sublime experience of participating in Erykah Badu giving birth on Twitter, whether they might be able to communicate with Lynsee while she is enjoying her starring educational role.

Well, if you register with MomsLikeMe.com, you will, oh, goody, be able to live chat with Lynsee while her baby swims down the river of life into the world.

Perhaps this streaming will be the beginning of a trend, one that might provide a new revenue stream for the many cameramen who have been idle in this vicious recession.

Perhaps there will soon be birthing cumbayas, where friends of the parents from around the world can watch, while advising and cheering on via live chat. Filmmakers might join in too: "Turn a little to the left Lynsee! Bit more! The camera loves your left profile, darling! Oops, hold on there little one! Not Yet! Just one more shot of Mom! OK, cue the baby!"

Ours, you see, is a developing civilization.

[cvaldes1831]

I am speculating that Lynsee's real name is Richard Heene.

[Anonymous Hero]

No fun without the behind-the-midwife's-shoulder camera.

[karpenterskids]

That just means we'll get to see actual v@gina.
Right?

[balki4evr]

I have to say, as a self-addmitted tech-junkie and geek... and as someone who is currently watching his wife get more and more pregnant... I think this is an absolutely fabulous way to try to educate people about what birth is, can be, and should be. I don't know, at all, what this mother's birth philosophy is, but I do know that as a society we are woefully underprepared for bringing a new life into this world. Anything that anyone can do to help show birth, and teach people what to expect (that is not the tv version of birth -- fun fact that I learned in class and reading: the on the back with feet in stirrups default tv birth position? Most likely to cause problems, its bad for mom because she can't push effectively, puts more strain on the perineum and therefore is more likely to cause more damage, etc, etc, etc...). Even if this mother-to-be doesn't conform to your (or my) expectations of what giving birth should be, so what? It's not, necessarily, something to be mocked.

[cvaldes1831]

The general public has had access to birthing videos for two or three decades and my guess is that there are tens of thousands of them on the Internet as we speak, some of them better filmed, edited, narrated, and produced than others. You can probably go to your library and check out several.

The fact of the matter is that except for the couple in question, the birthing sequence is relatively boring. Who really wants to watch a couple fret for hours and hours as contractions quicken? The actual act of birthing is not particularly telegenic either and a good editor is required to make severe edits to ensure that the viewing audience doesn't get bored.

There are plenty of mommy blogs, vlogs, whatever about how the woman feels during the birthing process (I'm sure some enterprising young lasses have Tweeted the entire ordeal), so it's not like rare information is being hidden from the masses.

You are not realizing that your personal excitement about you and your wife's personal situation has very little interest to anyone outside the immediate family. Sadly, this happens a lot on the Internet.

As to Lynsee's scenario, it's pure promotion. Unless there is a board-certified OB/GYN providing commentary and a world-class videographer and editor on the project, forget it. You can probably get a better "education" on the birthing process from a ten-minute video hosted on a health-focused website.

[balu20099]

I am not pretty sure what type of show you are putting up here ?
you guys are saying its Education? may be business right ?

in twitter all fake stuff ,,,"is that you are tring to increse the population through pregnant education?

i donot understand what do u mean by education or by business 4 me it lookd media will be earning lot of money in this post ...happy money to media ,,,,,,,pl donot make readers to educate like posting this kind of stufffffffffffffff

[assman]

Not sure I'd want to see the between-the-legs shot anyway.. but without it, it's not especially educational. On the other hand, it would be my first time witnessing an actual birth rather than a Hollywood recreation, so maybe it is educational.

[solitare_pax]

Oh dear - consider the embarassment the poor kid will have to endure when they are old enough to appreciate their 'first photos' in the family photo album.

I hope they pick a decent name for the kid though - not something like "Moon Landing Unit Zappa"

[cbscowards]

I'm glad cnet decided to withold her last name. I'd hate to invade her privacy at such an intimate family moment ;-)

[biffhenerson]

So live streaming to all ages of something comming our of a hole in the body is legal in Minnesota? Any hole? That is one teacher that needs to be shunned by the community.

[subslug]

Never seen this in person or otherwise but, I think I have an idea of what happens without the visual.

Call me old school but I really don't think I need to see anything being ejected from a humans body, not even another human.

[globalist_agenda]

The Audacity of Tele-birthing. This couple is suffering from clinical narcissism. It's as bad as Katie Couric televising her colonoscopy. Oh right, it's all about "education".

[Harrison912]

I typically use social media to help market my safety and security web site. It sounds like anyone in the baby industry might want to get on board with this. Thanks, Chris.

[jasonbarrett]

Personally, regardless of what the Net community has to say, I am perfectly fine with this. In fact, I see this as a perfect opportunity for both the (surrogate) mom-to be and the other guardian who will be in the room with her to get a better idea for what the full blog (and it's multimedia additions) can prepare them for.

[Yrag54]

She wants a her name to be private but she is willing to livestream her privates ? Hilarious !

[benatmediacurves]

MediaCurves.com conducted a study among 303 viewers of a news clip discussing a woman who plans to broadcast coverage of her giving birth on the internet. Results found majority of viewers (75%) reported that they would not watch the coverage of the delivery. Furthermore, the majority of viewers (53%) did not think there was educational value in broadcasting video coverage of child birth on the internet. In addition, the majority of viewers (60%) did not think it was ethical to put such video content online.
More in depth results can be seen at:
http://www.mediacurves.com/NationalMediaFocus/J7622-OnlineBirth/Index.cfm
Thanks,
Ben