Parenting

Mom Streams Her 6th Home Birth as Thousands Cheer Her On in Real Time

ParentingPublished Jun 8, 2020
By Genny Glassman
Emma Isaacsemmaisaacs/Instagram Stories

A mother from Los Angeles, California, allowed thousands of people to see one of the most intimate moments of her life after she livestreamed the birth of her sixth child. Forty-year-old Emma Isaacs gave birth to a baby boy June 1, documenting the entire home birth on her Instagram Stories.

First, Isaacs shared that she was going into labor with her over 57 million followers on Instagram.

Isaacs, founder and CEO of Business Chicks, an Australian company devoted to empowering women in and out of the workplace, shared a photo of herself on Instagram right as her contractions were starting.

"Ok friends, looks like we might have some baby action tonight," she wrote. "I’m going to hand my phone over to friends and family who are here with me (let's hope they know what they're doing!) and will see you all on the other side."

She was full of confidence, posting "I'm feeling strong and ready."

Once her midwives and her doula finally arrived, she started streaming.-placeholder
Once her midwives and her doula finally arrived, she started streaming.
emmaisaacs/Instagram Stories

Once her midwives and her doula finally arrived, she started streaming.

According to 9Honey, Isaacs and her husband, 40-year-old Rowan, already have five kids, all of them born at home: Milla, 11; Honey, 8; Indie, 7; Ryder, 5; and Piper, 2. So the mom had experience on her side, as she can be seen bracing herself against her fireplace as her husband tries to coach her through the contractions.

Then she starts to prepare to enter the tub.-placeholder
Then she starts to prepare to enter the tub.
emmaisaacs/Instagram Stories

Then she starts to prepare to enter the tub.

Isaacs made sure to show the calm before the storm. She lit some candles, played some relaxing music, and showed the entire pre-labor process. At one point she puts on a necklace given to her by friends to give her "strength during labor."

A few of her oldest kids hunker down until the magic starts to happen.-placeholder
A few of her oldest kids hunker down until the magic starts to happen.
emmaisaacs/Instagram Stories

A few of her oldest kids hunker down until the magic starts to happen.

The sleepy girls wave at the camera as Isaacs' doulas and midwives worked together to get the tub ready.

Then, it's showtime!-placeholder
Then, it's showtime!
emmaisaacs/Instagram Stories

Then, it's showtime!

Music plays as the mom pushes her baby through. At one point, some of Isaacs' daughters can be seen peering over the tub's edge, curious at to what's going on. 

Meanwhile, more than six thousand people were watching the stream, and many of them wrote in to cheer on the mom. 

"Go Emma!" one commenter wrote. 

"Nearly there," encouraged another.

"Come on Em!" a third commenter wrote. "Amazing!"

Before she knew it, her son Louis Mack was born.-placeholder
Before she knew it, her son Louis Mack was born.
emmaisaacs/Instagram Stories

Before she knew it, her son Louis Mack was born.

"Introduce that little baby," her husband said to the camera. "He's a bit shy He's got his eyes closed. We think he is a boy. We haven't looked it."

The next day, Isaacs checked in on Instagram to assure her followers that she and baby Louis were in good health.

All in all, it was an experience that she didn't regret. Speaking with 9Honey, Isaacs explained that she decided to stream her birth experience online because she had "really wanted to share" her last birth but was talked out of it.

"I so regretted it afterwards," she added.

She said she "worked really hard" to learn about child birth, going from "being petrified at the start and thinking I didn't have the capability to do it, to having had five wonderful, transformative births."

"I threw myself into research and became a highly educated birth consumer, and this collection of knowledge taught me that women are strong, and birth can be amazing," she said.

She said she wanted to do her "little part" to "show that women are strong and birth (no matter what your choices are) can be amazing."

And hopefully, she added, she's helped to destigmatize that birth should be discreet and show woman "what [an] empowering birth can look like."

"We're only fed images of drama and emergency and hospitals and masks and surgeons and you also never have to look far to hear a negative birth story," she explained. "When this is your expectation or experience there's lots of shame involved so you don't want to share it and this leads to fear mongering."

But the opposite is true too. Even for woman who do have "great births," they sometimes don't want to share their experience to make other woman feel bad -- "so they keep their stories to themselves or they water them down," she explained. "I think it's time to bring birth out into the world and not have women feel silenced or ashamed."

Isaac is also one of the many women who have or will give birth during the current health crisis and protests.

While she was in labor, she could hear a protest rally outside held because of the death of George Floyd while in police custody.

"We could actually hear sirens and helicopters overhead," she said in a post on Instagram from June 2. "We're not far from the protests here in LA. It's beautiful to do something so gentle and lovely at a time when the world is a little bit messed up and in pain."

Ultimately, Isaac told 9Honey that she hoped other people would "see that a wonderful birth experience" is possible, no matter how they choose to give birth.

"When we trust ourselves and trust our bodies and feel supported and nurtured and safe, then for the vast majority of us, we can create beautiful birthing experiences," she said.

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