Skype Birth: Father In Iraq Watches Birth Of His Twins Live Via iPad

A Skype birth allowed a father stationed thousands of miles away from his wife in Iraq be present for the birth of his twins.

Jon Zimbleman was in Basrah, Iraq, working as a contractor in the private sector when his wife went into labor half a world away in Montana. Since dad couldn’t be home for the delivery himself, the family came up with the next best thing — a Skype birth.

Both mother and father signed onto the live video chat service to share in the birth of now-2-week-old twins, Braylon and Brielle. But as ABC News noted, it almost didn’t happen.

The twins’ mother, Erin Zimbleman, was worried that the hospital wouldn’t give the OK for the Skype birth, but she got the approval needed just in time for the twins to make their big entrance. The delivery needed to take place in the operating room, and the anesthesiologist had to give his approval to allow an iPad into a room where normally internet connections aren’t allowed.

Erin said once she had approval for the Skype birth, she told her husband to stay on his toes.

“I just told him, go get to hard line, go to your office, be ready,” Zimbelman told ABC News.

Erin said she hopes her positive experience leads the way for other Skype births.

“I hope other people will be able to do it, or that hospitals won’t say ‘no’ right away. That was my main concern. No one gave me an answer until the day of, a couple hours before we were doing it all, so it was really nerve wracking,” Zimbelman said.

For the Zimbelmans, the Skype birth was a nice way to end a pregnancy wrought with tragedy, Daily InterLake noted. On July 7, Erin’s father suffered a debilitating stroke and on the very same day Jon’s 53-year-old mother died.