BOSTON -- Although they were half a world apart, conferencing technology allowed a military father in Iraq to take part in his daughter’s birth in Boston Saturday.

WATCH: Soldier Watches Birth On Videoconference

NewsCenter 5’s Jim Morelli reported that while mother Yeshira Paredes gave birth to the couple’s new daughter, father Edwin watched via webcam 8,000 miles away.

The birth-room videoconference was a joint effort between Beth Israel Hospital and the Freedom Calls Foundation, a non-profit group dedicated to connecting troops with their families through communications technology.

“This is our first child and this is a very special time in our lives,” Yeshira Paredes said. “I didn’t want him to miss it.”

The foundation, which is run by civilians, says that it connects 2,000 service people with their families every month, free of charge. Of that number, 200 videoconferences involve births.

“I’m really happy when I see her,” Edwin Paredes said. “I can’t wait to get home and carry her.”

Paredes was deployed to Iraq last August.