Babies online minutes after birth

Everybody's telling the world of their new bundles of joy on the web, writes Greer McDonald. 

Kiss your newborn baby, count the fingers and toes - update their website.

One in five babies born are now online within 10 minutes of their birth, say research results released by international communication company Orange.

The survey, which interviewed 1000 new and expectant parents, revealed that parents are increasingly turning to camera phones and websites to inform people of their latest additions.

Just over 20 per cent of new parents have also created a profile for their bundle of joy on dedicated social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace or Bebo.

Lower Hutt mum Abbey Milner said photos of her twin boys Cyruss and Blaize, who were born on Wednesday, were uploaded to her Bebo page "almost instantaneously" via cellphone.

"Friends and family have gone online and uploaded photos too," she said.

The twins, who arrived almost a month early, are destined to grow up with new technology, their mother said, as she took another photo of the boys on her camera phone.

Ms Milner admitted the twins' father was guilty of taking the most photos.

"He just can't stop - he never leaves their side," she said.

One in five parents send a picture of their newborn baby to friends and family within 10 minutes of the birth, with almost half (48 per cent) of parents taking snaps of their bundle of joy within the hour.

For the parents who just can't wait for the birth, one in seven (14 per cent) have also sent pictures of their unborn baby's ultrasound scan via their mobile or e-mail - meaning almost 9000 babies each year in New Zealand are seen by friends and family before they're even born.

Tradition remains strong, however, when it comes to the first people to call when the child arrives - 85 per cent of people tell parents and parents-in-law before anyone else, the survey showed.

Ms Milner broke that tradition, telling her brother and best friend about her double arrivals first.