Rosie Pope Live Tweeted Her Baby's Birth - Would You?
By Charlotte Hilton Andersen, REDBOOK
Tweeting, Facebooking, and other social media site-ing are so ubiquitous now that I'll admit my first question upon reading the breathless headlines "Rosie Pope live tweeted her baby's birth!!!" (gasp! choke! cough!) was to wonder who on earth Rosie Pope is. She is apparently a reality TV personality with her own show Pregnant in Heels, and last week she tweeted during her day-long labor and delivery of her new daughter-her husband sent out the last tweet announcing that "Our beautiful princess is born! Mom and baby are doing great!!!"
Just another day in the Overshare Land of the Internet, or was it a social faux pax? News outlets reported public dismay-as evidenced by lots of judge-y tweets and Facebook polls-that people thought the new mom went "too far" in sharing her joy. This surprised me, and not just because my friend just checked in to the hospital to deliver her own munchkin...in real life and on Facebook.
First, Pope is on a reality TV show-a genre famous for showing so much of the 16-year-olds giving birth on 16 & Pregnant that viewers get an honorary OB/GYN degree when the season is over-that I was just grateful not to have learned whether or not Pope has a mole on her inner thigh. Second, anyone who thinks labor and delivery is a private experience obviously doesn't remember how every stranger who comes into your hospital room greets you with a cervix check rather than a handshake.
I may be biased, though, because also I tweeted and posted on Facebook during my last delivery. I even posted a few pics, but nothing close to the "business end." Perhaps my friends and family were just humoring me, but they all seemed to enjoy being along for the ride, and I know that I get worried if a 5-days-overdue friend doesn't post about her pregnancy or labor. Of course moms-to-be should maintain a modicum of discretion (anything with the phrase "mucous plug or bloody show" probably ought to be avoided) but I've never read a status update or tweet that's bothered me. Perhaps I'm more open than most people when it comes to bodily functions?
What's your opinion? Should moms-to-be live-tweet or Facebook their labors and deliveries? Take our poll!
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