A Chinese influencer faced the wrath of netizens after he filmed his wife’s agonising 23-hour childbirth and shared the clip online.
According to South China Morning Post (SCMP), the influencer is known as “Paul in USA”, who is an ex-Microsoft product manager and graduated from Columbia University.
Filmed away while wife screamed in pain
Paul, who is currently based in Seattle and has over 12.2 million followers on Douyin, courted controversy when he posted a video which documented his wife’s entire childbirth process that reportedly lasted for 23 hours.
During the childbirth, Paul’s wife experienced a third-degree perineal tear and post-partum haemorrhaging, leading her to lose a staggering 3,344 millilitres of blood.
Thankfully, both mother and child were safe following an emergency operation and blood transfusion.
Paul further added fuel to the controversy by adding a nappy endorsement in the clip, where he read out the advertisement script himself.
Data showed that he charges 250,000 yuan (RM141,000) for videos between one and 20 seconds, 278,000 yuan (RM156,700) for 21 to 60 seconds, and 298,000 yuan (RM168,000) for videos over 60 seconds.
Online backlash
Paul’s actions didn’t sit well with netizens, who criticised him for profiting from his wife’s pain.
Amid the furore, Paul’s wife defended his actions in the now-deleted clip, writing:
Our intention was to authentically document the childbirth process. We did not anticipate complications during filming, but still felt it was important to share the footage.
“Some people told us it helped them better understand the risks and unpredictability of childbirth: not every delivery is smooth; some are extremely dangerous.”
However, the defense ultimately failed as Paul’s Douyin account was banned on Feb 11 for violating platform policies and relevant laws.
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