Doctor’s words of affirmation for newborn baby go viral
A heartwarming video of a doctor speaking words of affirmation to a newborn recently went viral after the baby's parents shared the sweet moment online.
Earlier this week, Soneasha Baker and husband George Baker posted a TikTok video capturing the birth of their son Giannis Baker, who was delivered by Dr. Richard Bridgewater.
The clip shows Bridgewater addressing baby Giannis, who was born on Dec. 8, 2024, at 4:24 a.m., weighing 8 pounds.
"Look how handsome you are," Bridgewater says in the video, introducing Giannis to his future self on camera. He then praises the Soneasha Baker's strength during labor, calling it a "beautiful birth," and reminds the baby of his special place in an unbroken chain of family history.
"So, you're very special, and now that you're here, the world will never, ever be the same," he tells the newborn in the video, which has already garnered over 1.6 million views on TikTok.
In the caption, Soneasha Baker wrote that after a second-trimester loss, she and her husband sought a new OB-GYN and were referred to Bridgewater by a friend. She said they were deeply moved from their very first appointment.
"The positivity, reassurance, and patience Dr. Bridgewater provided was heartwarming," she wrote. "The world we live in today needs more medical professionals like Dr. Bridgewater. We are forever thankful 💙🙏🏽👨🏾⚕️."
Reflecting on the special moment captured in her TikTok video, Soneasha Baker told "Good Morning America" it was "very emotional," especially after her pregnancy loss the previous year.
"So, when we came across Dr. Bridgewater, he reassured me that he was going to do all he can to make sure we didn't miss anything during my pregnancy," she said. "During delivery, he was very reassuring ... and in hearing him talk life into our son and finally hearing our son cry, it was just a sense of relief."
She added, "The doctor was speaking so highly of him and [speaking] positivity into his life and him changing the world, it was just so emotional for me -- those words just... it just hit me like a ton of bricks, but in a good way."
Bridgewater, a graduate of Cornell University and Yale Medical School, told "GMA" that his passion for becoming an OB-GYN was sparked during the birth of his son.
When the on-call OB-GYN was unavailable, a stand-in doctor gave him the opportunity to do the delivery -- a life-changing moment that shaped his career path.
"My dream was to make every birth as life changing as my son's birth," he said.
Bridgewater said he also records birth moments to inspire the newborns as they grow.
"Those videos were made for the children and with the intent of changing their life," he said. "On days when things are hard and they're struggling, I wanted them to look on it and say, 'Look what my mom overcame for me so I can overcome my obstacles' -- and on days when things are going really well and celebrating for them, to look on it and say, 'I was born into a birthday party.'"
Soneasha Baker praised Bridgewater for his approach, saying it made her and his other patients feel "empowered," "heard" and "important."
"It makes you feel like your baby is not just, you know, in a sense, a check to him, like he's just doing it for the money," she said. "He does it because he really loves it. And you can sense that from him ... I know he does that for every patient, as far as words of affirmation for the babies, but I felt, like, on top of the world hearing him speak those words of life into our baby."
