Publications
Partners
- Temwa and Anjola Olukoya are UK-based YouTube Content creators.
- Their content-creating careers started with a viral video of a game they played at their wedding.
- They now vlog as a couple focused on positively representing love, marriage and family.
When you haven't yet gone through something, you can't help but imagine how it will go. Most women expecting a child will attest to going through this before giving birth.
Most of those women will also say it doesn't always go according to plan.
YouTube content creator Temwa Olukoya experienced this a year ago when she gave birth to her second child at home. Her husband, Anjola Olukoya, helped her deliver the child before emergency services could reach them.
The couple shared this story with News24 on a recent trip to Kenya for the YouTube Black Voices Graduation Celebration.
The couple shared the story on their channel called Temwa & Anjola, recounting the birth story as Temwa held their sleeping newborn son, Zion, in her arms.
He is the couple's second child. When he was born, they already had a two-year-old daughter named Zoe, who entered the world in a hospital birth that Temwa described as "quite the rollercoaster."
YouTube Black Voices 2023
YouTube created its Black Voices programme in 2020 to invest in talent and present fresh narratives that emphasise the intellectual power and authenticity of Black voices. The programme has helped more than 500 creators and artists grow their channels and audiences for the last three years.
To celebrate the graduation of its final cohort of creators who went through the programme, YouTube flew over 100 Black creators from around the world to Nairobi, Kenya.
YouTube plays an essential role in discovering and developing African culture. The fund takes this further by equipping up-and-coming Black creators, artists, songwriters and producers with the resources to succeed on its platform. In addition to funding, creators also received one-on-one mentorship and classes on how to grow their revenue.
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"When we announced the $100 million fund to amplify Black and African voices and perspectives on our platform, we wanted to create a space where Black people can share their own stories, in their own voices, with the world. The fund has, in many ways, created opportunities to amplify, celebrate and cultivate Black artistry for a global audience," said YouTube Managing Director of Emerging Markets, EMEA, Alex Okosi.
Some of the other creators we got to meet during the session are Banele Ndaba (popularly known as Moghelingz), John Adewusi of 234drive, Clarissa Magunde of coffeenomilk, Ifeyinwa Mogekwu of Ify's Kitchen, Martin Kihara of African Real Estate, Reginald Mohlabi and Olus B and Dorothy Tuash of OT Love Train.
Temwa's home birth
After getting to know the couple in a speed dating session between creators and members of the media, I decided to find out more about UK-based couple Temwa and Anjola.
That is how I learned Temwa's first child was four days late, and her son was born six days after his due date.
Until her hips began hurting the night her son was born, she recalls not showing signs of being in labour. She also reported feeling a slight pressure in her lower back that evening.
During that time, she said she had been going on long walks with her husband and was using the walks to induce labour naturally. The evening her son was born, she recalls walking with her husband and frequently stopping on the walk as she felt the pressure building.
She suspected she was in early labour, which made her slightly panic about how much pain she may be in once labour progressed.
Temwa believes in going through labour at home and hoped to do the same the second time around. The couple not only creates YouTube content but also relies on it quite a bit. Temwa said they watched a YouTube video on breathing techniques to manage pain in labour as they waited at home for her labour to progress.
Later that evening, Temwa said she felt the intense pressure move even lower in her pelvic region, and Anjola admitted to feeling fearful in that moment.
She then thought the pressure was from her needing to use the toilet, but as she tried, her water broke, and she says she felt her baby make his way lower. She asked Anjola to call the ambulance and waited on the landing of the stairs in their home as she felt her baby make his way out. Anjola said he felt frustrated and confused as the lady on the emergency line told him to get towels, as he didn't understand why she was advising him as though he was preparing to deliver the child himself.
Despite his fears, Anjola calmly told Temwa that they would deliver the baby at home, reassuring her that everything would be fine.
"I felt like my body was pushing so naturally; I wasn't even putting much effort into this. Like, the baby was just coming out; it was like butter leaving the system," said Temwa.
"But, it took some time, let me tell you. Guys! My eyes have seen things!" exclaimed Anjola with a laugh.
They called the experience "marriage bonding times a billion", adding that in other scenarios, even if the husband may see his child being born, he usually is not the one facilitating the actual delivery and seeing everything first-hand.
"I think what was scary for me was the moment the baby's head came out, when his head completely came out, and not just crowning. Initially, I could see the top of his head, but when he came out, his face was just straight because I could see him. My hands were around him, and his face was straight up, and he didn't move. His eyes were closed, and you couldn't see any movement in his face. It was scary!" said Anjola.
He kept his fear to himself and reassured his wife that everything was going well, praying that his son was okay the entire time. He did not know that his wife was quietly fighting the same fears at that moment.
"Once we heard baby cry, we felt so much reassurance. I was just there like, 'Oh, thank God!'" added Temwa.
Anjola also said that he applied what he had learned about supporting certain parts of his wife's body to ease and prevent tearing. He happily shared that he successfully ensured Temwa didn't tear during delivery.
"The second I held him, I felt so much joy and relief," recalled Anjola, speaking of the moment he held his newborn son.
Emergency services eventually arrived about two hours later, and Temwa said that hearing their personal stories about their family and seeing them with Zion warmed her heart.
Zion is now one, and the couple recently took their children on their first international family holiday after returning from the YouTube Black Voices graduation celebration.
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