Dr. Richard Bridgewater welcomed Giannis Baker to the world in a way that touched the hearts of netizens. Soneasha Baker and her husband George Baker shared a TikTok video last week showing the birth of their baby who was delivered by Bridgewater this month.
In the video, which has now received over 1.6 million views, Bridgewater is seen saying affirming words to their 8-pound newborn son Giannis, who was born on December 8, 2024, at 4:24 a.m.
“Look how handsome you are,” Bridgewater says in the video as he presents Giannis to his future self.
Then, describing the birth as a “beautiful birth,” he commends Soneasha Baker’s strength during labor and informs the little one of his special position in an uninterrupted line of family history.
He went on: “So, you’re very special, and now that you’re here, the world will never, ever be the same.”
Soneasha Baker stated in the caption that she and her partner had to look for a new OB-GYN after a second-trimester loss, and a friend recommended Bridgewater. From their very first appointment, she indicated, they were tremendously touched.
She wrote, “The positivity, reassurance, and patience Dr. Bridgewater provided was heartwarming. The world we live in today needs more medical professionals like Dr. Bridgewater. We are forever thankful.”
Bridgewater, who attended Yale Medical School and Cornell University, told “Good Morning America” that the birth of his son fueled his desire to become an OB-GYN.
When the on-call OB-GYN was absent, a stand-in doctor allowed him to perform the delivery, which was a life-changing experience that determined his future career path.
He stated: “My dream was to make every birth as life changing as my son’s birth.”
“Good Morning America” spoke with Soneasha Baker about the unique moment she captured in her TikTok video. She reflected that it was “very emotional,” especially since she had lost her pregnancy the year before.
She recounted, “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. 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.”
“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.”
Soneasha Baker commended Bridgewater’s approach, noting that it made her and his other patients feel “empowered,” “heard,” and “important.”
According to her, “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. 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.”
Meanwhile, Bridgewater revealed that he captures birth moments to inspire newborns as they grow.
He explained, “Those videos were made for the children and with the intent of changing their life. 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.'”
