Meet Paige, She Just Live Streamed Her Birth on Facebook
Paige LoPinto started a Facebook page for followers who eagerly awaited the birth of her second child. She is sweet, funny and easy to relate to. She is like the friend everyone wants to have, she doesn't pretend to be perfect. She honestly wants to encourage and support
other moms and has made a platform to do just that. BirthTUBE has become a safe haven for women who want to learn, inspire and empower each other. Here are a few questions that Paige graciously answered.
Congratulations on the birth of your beautiful baby girl! Can you share with us what you named her and her birth stats?
Savvy Fae LoPinto
8 pounds 6 ounces ; 21 inches long
Born, August, 25th at 5:57 am
Where did you come up with the idea to go live with your birth?
Do you remember when a Zoo in New York live streamed April the Giraffe giving birth? I watched her for two weeks straight, no joke. During her last few days of labor, I had a girls night at my house and we sat around watching her pace back and forth. One of my friends joked, "Paige, you should stream your birth live." We all laughed... our running joke turned into my reality. "If April the Giraffe can do it, so can I."
How many viewers were watching?
I believe moments leading up to when I was about to push, we reached 420+ viewers watching LIVE. The video has now been viewed 16.9K times.
Was your husband on board from the beginning with the idea?
My husband Tim was a bit skeptical at first. When I first told him the idea, he thought I was a bit crazy... who didn't. Once I finished pitching him the idea and assuring him it would be a closed group with only "approved" people, that eased his mind... He's only real worry was everyone seeing it.
Did you hire a doula, if yes why?
I have an interesting story about my doula. 4 weeks before my home birth, I hosted a CPR and First Aid training at my home for myself and some mom friends. We needed to hire a babysitter to help with the children while we got trained. I found a sweet lady named, Katelynn Cowan in one of my mom Facebook groups. I reached out to her to see if she was available to babysit. After a few messages, she wasn't available to babysit but she was a certified birth and postpartum doula!
Now I was really interested. After chatting with her, I shared with her that I was streaming my home birth live on Facebook if she wanted to watch. She was ecstatic to join the group and witness her first live home birth. As we continued messaging I thought to myself, "she would learn so much more if she was actually here." I felt like I had something really special to share with her and in return she had something really special to share with me. I've never experienced what it's like to have a doula and she had never been to a home birth.
Having Katelynn as a doula really opened my eyes to why you should hire a doula. For my first birth without a doula, my husband was left doing most of the work; filling the pool, refilling my water cup, getting towels out, etc. He wasn't available to be by my side when I needed him. Although, I didn't need him the entire time and he needed breaks, that's when Katelynn would come in.
Here is my review I wrote on Katelynn's website, "From the moment Katie walked through my door, she was automatically in "nurturing" mood. She knew all the right things to say, where to apply pressure, suggestions of positions I should get in, etc. She even got in the shower with me!! Amazing. We filmed the entire labor and delivery... watching the video back, I was amazed by how hands on she was the entire time. Even when my midwife was tending to me, Katie would be folding towels, getting a cold rag prepped, making sure I had water, etc."
What do you want women to know about natural childbirth?
Birth should not be feared! Birth is beautiful, your body and your baby know exactly what to do.
How has life changed since your daughter arrived now that you are a family of 4?
LoPinto family, party of 4. Having two kids under 2 is no joke. Laundry doubled, dishes are endless, house got messier, but laughter and love tripled. Savvy Fae has been a wonderful addition to our sweet family.
Do you have any regrets about doing the birth live?
I don't have one single regret about streaming my birth live on Facebook. The only regret I have about the BirthTUBE group is not starting it earlier! I have received so much wonderful feedback from the members of this group about how much my birth, inspired them, gave them motivation, and most of all how much they learned! If I would've started this group earlier, thousands of more women would've got to witness the birth of Savvy Fae.
Any thoughts or advice you'd like to share with women who are considering home birth?
First off, home birth is not for everyone. Do your research first. I choose home birth for myself because I love the idea of being home and having freedom of walking where I wanted to walk, eating what I wanted to eat, sitting where I wanted to sit, laying where I wanted to
lay, inviting whoever I wanted to invite and most of all, birthing where I wanted to birth! Also, I love Midwives! I liked not having to go to a doctor's office every month for my appointments. I got to go to my wonderful midwife's home! I didn't have to sit in a tiny room and lay on a piece of paper, I got lay on her soft comfy bed. In two years of seeing my midwife Michele Fitzgerald, I have never felt rushed during my appointments... each appointment was at least 45 minutes to an 1 hour long... and if we wanted to stay longer to "just chat" she loved that.
Paige has also started a new Facebook page The Savvy Mama, which deals with the postpartum part of her journey. She has opened a floodgate to normalizing birth and postpartum and has an ever growing following. We are all eagerly awaiting Lacy Palmer to go into labor any day now and I can assure you these badass women are just the beginning of the BirthTUBE phenomenon. You can also follow her on Instagram at BirthTUBE.
Top photo courtesy of Rebecca Dyan Photography
Bottom two Photos courtesy of Abbey Corbett Photography