This is the heartwarming moment a new dad watched the birth of his first child on Zoom after coronavirus social distancing rules stopped him from being in hospital with his wife.
The family have shared footage of Marty Gandelman, 34, sitting at home on the sofa as he watches his wife Stephanie, also 34, give birth to their son Jake on March 27.
Following the ban of visitors and spouses in delivery rooms during the virus outbreak in the US, the couple, from New Jersey, arranged for Marty to watch from his laptop at home.
Steph, who gave birth to Jake at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, New York, said it was tough to go through the experience alone, although she added Marty was more upset than she was.
"He was more upset than I was to be honest because Jake is our first child together and he was sad that he could not be there to see his son born," she told Metro.
"When we heard the news that Marty couldn’t be in the room with me we were both really sad and it was hard to take.
"But I was still happy I was able to go to hospital as normal and when it sunk in, all we cared about was making sure the baby would be ok and cared for properly.
"When I was in labour I just thought of the camera as Marty, rather than a camera.
"It didn’t really change anything for me and it was comforting to know he was there."
Steph said it was hard for Marty to see her in pain and agreed it must have been difficult for him to be at home on the sofa.
"I was happy for Marty because he was still able to share that moment with me," she said. "But it was hard for him to see me in pain."
Marty said it was reassuring to see all the doctors looking after Steph but not being able to kiss and hug Steph and Jake was hard.
"By the time it happened it had sunk in that I had to stay at home but I was very, very upset at first," he said.
"When I saw how many doctors were there on Zoom I knew she was safe, which helped.
"But not being there to hug and kiss Jake right away was tough, of course."
Jake was born weighing 7lb 5oz and was allowed home the day after being delivered.
Marty added: "When I finally met Jake it was such a great feeling.
"I gave him and kiss and a cuddle and then drove home to isolate away from everything."
Steph added: "It wasn’t the perfect labour but we made it work.
"It feels perfect now to be home as a little family."
