Expectant parents often turn to audiovisual platforms like YouTube, which hosts millions of "birth vlogs" and educational videos. These resources are used to bridge the gap between abstract knowledge and the reality of labor.

The proliferation of social media, YouTube, and smartphone technology has made it easier for expectant parents to record and share their birthing experiences. What was once a private and intimate moment is now being shared with a wider audience, often with the goal of educating, inspiring, or simply preserving memories. Birth videos have become a popular way for families to document and relive the birth of their child, allowing them to share the experience with loved ones who may not have been present.

For most of modern Western history, birth was a secret. Until the mid-20th century, women often gave birth at home, attended by other women—a communal, if dangerous, rite. Then came the hospital, the epidural, the cesarean, and the waiting room. Birth became a medical event, not a life event. Fathers were kept outside. The mother was sedated. The child was whisked away to a nursery behind frosted glass.

By 2007, YouTube had its first viral birth video: a water birth set to Enya’s “Only Time.” It had 2 million views and a comment section that oscillated between “beautiful miracle” and “I just threw up my cereal.” The genre had arrived.

You swipe up. A golden retriever is trying to eat a flip-flop. The algorithm has moved on.