Wilgis said tweeting during the delivery beats blogging, which he did with his first child, Caleb, four years ago.
Matt McDermott of Lauraville, who tweeted in September when his wife, Wendy, gave birth to their son Ferris, said he had a couple of reasons for doing so. "It was to keep friends updated, yes, but also it was an experiment for me. I'm in advertising and I was interested to see how followers responded and which tweets were most popular."
For some fathers, tweeting during the delivery is a chance to keep busy. It also gives them someone to talk to while the physicians tend to mother and child.
FOR THE RECORD - An article in Wednesday's editions about fathers tweeting their children's births used an incorrect pronoun in referring to Michael Schwartzberg of Greater Baltimore Medical Center. Schwartzberg is a he. The Baltimore Sun regrets the error.
"As a new father you feel lonely in the delivery room because all of the attention is on your wife and the child," Wilgis said. "It gave me something to do while I was sitting there, and a lot of the tweets express the boredom and frustration of just sitting there waiting. To an extent, it's like talking out loud and wondering if anybody hears you."
Michael Schwartzberg, media relations manager for Greater Baltimore Medical Center, said she's recently heard of about a half-dozen expectant parents tweeting during deliveries at the hospital.
"It started perhaps when Lance Armstrong did it in June; that made it popular, I guess," said Schwartzberg. (The cycling star announced the birth of his fourth child, Max, on Twitter.) "But social media is emerging as a communications tool."
Schwartzberg said that when another couple mentioned they would tweet during their delivery in August, he cleared the move with doctors, who said they had no problem with it.
"They said, 'As long as Dad is in a corner out of the way,' " Schwartzberg added. "Most times, the birthing companion is in the room anyway, and it's not as if they're wheeling in heavy equipment. Most people use BlackBerries or PDAs, and it's commonplace to take pictures after the baby's born with either a cell phone camera or a regular camera. It's not as if they're causing problems for anyone."
But not everyone is sold on the idea of fathers constantly communicating with others during a most delicate period in a couple's life.
"I think it's terrible," said Dr. Renana Brooks, a Washington-based psychologist. "The world is divided, and one of the few rituals we have in terms of giving each other undivided attention is that time in a delivery room. To be spending time writing to someone else destroys the whole ritual. That's like Twittering on your wedding night. You can blog about it afterward."
