I’ll never forget the first birth I ever had the privilege to witness.
I was 20 and still in nursing school and the room was crowded with tons of people and the whole place was a mess and the mother was screaming and it actually was incredibly not peaceful, but the moment that baby started crowning, a peace like nothing I had ever experienced before descended over everyone. That moment was transformative, and I remember backing myself into a corner so no one would see the tears I had falling.
Every single birth I have ever seen since that day has never ceased to amaze me. I know it’s not always pretty and it’s definitely not always neat and tidy and sometimes, it’s not even always joyful, but birth is absolutely always a beautiful and incredible process to witness.
Even if you happen to witness it via a GoPro video camera.
Which is actually how new dad Caique Santiago captured his partner Constance Nunes, welcoming their daughter Liz into the world. And I guess it all makes sense, seeing as the Canadian couple run a YouTube channel and Facebook page together, but still. Points to this dad for having absolutely no chill whatsoever for strapping a camera to his chest and getting right into the thick of the action.
“Our days have been filled out with a love that I always thought could never exist,” the proud dad wrote on the couple’s YouTube birth video, which he reposted in honor of Liz turning 1 this year. “There are moments in life that are indescribable and will last forever. Our April 29th was like that.”
I admit that I watched the birth video fully expecting it to be some kind of cheesy gimmick, like dad sandals with socks, but of course, I ended up getting completely sucked in and genuinely gasping in awe when the baby was born. The photos that the couple’s birth photographer and videographer, Cradled Creations, snapped right before the delivery feature the young dad with his camera strapped to his chest, ready to go, and it’s kind of adorable.
Image Source: Cradled Creations
The video starts out as your typical birth saga, filled with pictures of a mother somehow looking serenely beautiful yet also in pain, a loving and supportive father-to-be, anxious family members, and lots of hip swaying. But suddenly, when the video switches to the view that Santiago had during the delivery, the mood completely shifts.
With dad at the helm, ready to go, and mom’s labor support team surrounding her, the birth scene soon becomes magical. As the birth story switches to a bird’s eye view of dad, there’s instantly a surge of swift and contagious excitement and a baby born so quickly and seemingly effortlessly that I had to watch the video a few times to believe it.
I love how proud this dad is of his partner and daughter, and how everyone is just so darn joyful once that baby is born. Seeing those moments and the happy looks on everyone else’s faces just confirms what we already know: Birth is awesome, no matter which way you look at it.
