Video Cameras In The Delivery Room

From Pittsburgh comes a story about hospitals revisiting their policies on allowing video cameras in the delivery room.  In hospitals where filming is banned or limited, the stated reasons are to protect the privacy and safety of patients and employees.  There is also the suggestion that, if there are problems with the birth, hospitals and medical personnel would prefer that there be no video record of occurrences in the delivery room.

Some people strongly disagree with the restrictions on filming.  They cherish the video of the birth of their baby, watch it regularly, and like to be reminded of how their child looked at that amazing moment.  One of the people quoted in the article watches the video with their now-grown child.  For such people, documenting that life-changing moment is crucially important; they want to remain closely connected to that instant.  Because some people feel so strongly about it, I imagine that there will always be hospitals that allow video recording of the birth, notwithstanding privacy, safety, and potential liability concerns.

As for us, we didn’t film the birth of either of our boys.  I didn’t even think of it, really, and if I had considered it I would have decided not to do so.  I wanted to be in the moment during the births, not fussing with a camera.  I knew I would be so super-charged with adrenalin that I wouldn’t have been able to take a decent picture, anyway, and in any case I didn’t want to be separated from the event by a video camera, or anything else.  Looking at the birth through a video camera lens just would not have been the same.