Parents show off newborn babies online

Mena Trott was in labor for 32 hours last fall before giving birth to a baby girl. To take her mind off the pain and pass the time, she walked around the hospital, listened to music.

And blogged.

Using her cell phone, she posted pictures from the hospital. In the final hours, she had to dictate her last post, which detailed how much she hurt at the time. Two hours after the birth, she and her husband, Ben, published photographs of their new arrival on their blogs and announced the name of their baby girl, Penelope.

Granted, the Trotts founded Six Apart, the San Francisco new-media startup that runs the Vox, Movable Type and Typepad blogging platforms, so it comes as no surprise that they blog habitually. But their experience is indicative of how the latest technology is influencing parenthood.

A decade ago, blogging and social networking largely were a means for teenagers to keep in touch. Now, tech-savvy moms and dads use Web 2.0 and mobile tools to instantly share news about their wee ones, connect to other families and prepare for their role as parents.

Social-networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace have become a resource for parents to check out baby names and, later, to research potential caregivers and babysitters.

Parents also can create a baby profile on their Facebook page through applications such as Babybook. And to announce the birth, dads don't need cigars -- they can just update their blogs and Facebook status or use Twitter, a mobile blogging tool that alerts their friends of brief updates via text and instant messages.

Before, said Mena Trott, "People were always wondering what was going on and had to wait for a phone call, which usually happened at the end. When I was in the hospital, I knew there were people all over the country that were checking on my progress."

Friends posted responses on her blog, cheering her along when her labor dragged. "In essence, I had 100 people in the room (with me) because of this," she said.

Julia Schwartzman Popowitz, associate general counsel for Facebook, notified more than 400 people in her Facebook network soon after the birth of her son this year by changing the status on her profile using her mobile phone. A day later, she posted photographs online. "In real time, I could broadcast out the announcement," she said.

She received congratulations right away, too. Her Facebook page soon filled with gifts, including virtual pacifiers, teddy bears and balloons.

Popowitz also created a Babybook, an application that appears on her Facebook page. Like a typical Facebook profile, the Babybook details her son's pastimes.

It lists his favorite music (African lullabies) and his favorite activities -- escaping from swaddling, reading with Daddy and long walks with Mommy. He is also connected to his own friends, including babies of Popowitz's friends.

Charlene Li, an analyst for Forrester Research, a technology research firm, and part of the Silicon Valley Moms blog network, said she has used Facebook and MySpace to check out potential caregivers to see if they have posted inappropriate pictures.

"Are they hanging out and partying in Cabo, or are they holding down a job?" she said.

Much has been said recently about the growing ranks of women online, including the increasing popularity and influence of mommy blogs.

More than 8 out of 10 U.S. moms go online at least once a month, according to a report by eMarketer, with an estimated 35.3 million mothers online in 2008.

And technology has become a critical tool for them as parents. In a survey last year, the Intelligence Group reported that 88 percent of mothers said the Internet has helped them stay connected to the world, 85 percent believed technology has made their life as a mother easier and 66 percent said they relied more on technology than they had before becoming a parent.

Among their online activities, 75 percent use the Internet to research products, 31 percent use social- or business-networking sites and 24 percent read or write a blog, a survey by BabyCenter.com found.

In another report this year, BlogHer found that, among moms active in the blogosphere, nearly 44 percent use Facebook, 71 percent use MySpace and 1.8 percent use Twitter. More than 70 percent also share photos online, and 37 percent upload and share videos.

"It's changed how we share parenting, both the joys and the challenges," said Elisa Camahort Page, co-founder of BlogHer, an annual conference and community made up largely of female bloggers.

(E-mail Ellen Lee at elee(at)sfchronicle.com)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)