The miracle of ... Facebook Live? Dad streams child's birth from delivery room

Thatgraphic PBS birth videoyou watched in high school science class got a reboot for the 21stcentury Monday morning, as a Sacramento, Calif., dad live streamed the birth of hisbaby boy on Facebookforthe world to see.

Kali Kanongata'a, the baby's father, filmed for 45 minutes inside the delivery room at the Mercy San Juan Medical Center narrating his partner Sarah Dome'scontractions and pushes with his own colour commentary.

"Come on, pop out son! What are you doing in there?" says Kanongata'a at one point during the video. When more hospital staffers start helping out as the actual birth nears, he says, "Uh-oh! Getting real."

Nurses and doctorscan also be heard throughout the video, telling Dome to relax, push and take deep breaths. "We see him now," a staffer says.

Dome knew that Kanongata'a was filming the birth, but she didn't know that he was streaming it live; she told CBC News that shewas quite surprised to find that out later in the day. Speaking from the hospital Monday evening, she saidit is "pretty cool"and doesn't want itto be taken down.

"I was OK, I was just focused on pushing ...it is a beautiful thing, nothing to be ashamed of. And it didn't show too much so I'm OK," she said.

"I'm really shocked that so many people seen the video my baby's a star." As of Monday night, the video has been viewed more than 25,000 times.

Streaming for the baby

Kanongata'asaidhe had been planning onstreamingthe birth for a while."I wanted our baby to remember it it's something for him to remember when he grows up."He hadlivestreamedmany different aspects of thewaiting process since the couplewere admitted to the hospital.

Kanongata'a said he had wanted to have a natural birth and help his partner deliver the baby, and that part of the reason he recorded the delivery was to show her they could have done it at home.

"There is nothing to hide about having a kid, it's a blessing and just to share it with people, I think it's just an amazing thing."

The video itself peaks around 37 minutes when their baby boy is born. The couple gave him a Tongan name Ngangatulelei HeKelesi. Kanongata'a saidthat roughly translates to "sweet aroma by grace."

The babywailedfor the first few minutes of his life until Dome calmedhim down. Staff from the hospital can be seenplacinga yellow toque on the baby's head.

The stream comes to an end after the couple discusswhere the baby got its hair. He wasborn with a full head of hair and even a bit of hair on his back.

Birth in the age ofsocial media

CBC News reached out to themedical centre, wherea spokeswoman said shewasn't aware of the video. The centrecould not be reached again for further comment.

It's not the first time a birth has played out in real time on social media.

Many have live tweetedevery step of their labour process, including a Twitter staffer. Last year, Samsung live streamed a birth using virtual reality for an Australian father who was outoftown while his son was being born.

A spokeswoman for Facebookcould not confirm whether the childbirth was a first for FacebookLive.

Many had a lot to say as the private moment turned incredibly public played outonline.