I first started camming in 2016 when my partner and I had lost our business, home, vehicle … everything. I was also 16 weeks pregnant with my second child and needed to find a way to save my family. Finding work as a pregnant woman is nearly impossible. I had tried camming before, but only as a guest on another broadcaster’s channel, so — with a lot of support from my partner — I decided to take the leap and create my own cam account.
When I first started camming, I was very self-conscious and nervous to be a newbie and a pregnant woman. I couldn’t find many other pregnant broadcasters and was nervous about negative comments and how I would handle them. As soon as I went online, I was so overwhelmed to see how accepting everyone was.
People will want very specific content when you are at a certain point in your pregnancy, usually at your largest and furthest along.
The Importance of Self-Care
I find that self-care is so important when camming and especially when camming while pregnant. There will always be trolls and always be haters. There will always be someone who is loud and rude. When people start to send you nasty comments, are you prepared? Do you have moderators there to help you? When I’m camming, I understand my worth and that I might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I never take people’s opinions to heart.
As a pregnant woman and mom in general, people will always judge you and tell you how you should live your life. People think that because you’re a mom, you can’t be sexual. It’s so important to be ready for these comments and have moderators or a system in place so you don’t have to pause your show, change your attitude and kick someone out. Going through a pregnancy and postpartum can be very emotional. You must make self-care a priority.
Finding a Supportive Community
I have been so lucky to find an amazing community and fan base on Chaturbate that have seen me through my evolving body from being pregnant, postpartum and now to a mom bod. At first, I was nervous that as my body changed I might lose my audience. However, people will follow you no matter how you evolve. Through camming, I have really learned to love myself and appreciate my body.
Just last year I went through a very emotional and rough three months of going through a miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy. It was hard to hide these things from my fans as my body was changing and I was feeling very sick. I eventually told my followers what was going on and was met with such amazing support. Your followers love to help you out when you are in need and just want to better your life.
I would also suggest having an Amazon wish list with your baby needs. This is something I wish I had done and would do when I’m pregnant again. Fans wanting to help make your day better, such as by sending you diapers so you don’t have to go out and get them yourself, is a huge help.
As an aside, the special relationship between a broadcaster and his or her fans is the subject of several episodes of the comedy series Cam_Girlfriend. You can go to YouTube.com/CammingLife to check it out.
Managing Requests
It’s important to set your boundaries as to what you are comfortable with and what you can handle, before you start camming. What will you feel comfortable doing online? How many custom video requests can you handle a week? What price are you comfortable with? I saw a huge increase in custom video requests, to the point where it was overwhelming — especially when I just didn’t have the time or energy to complete them. People will want very specific content when you are at a certain point in your pregnancy, usually at your largest and furthest along. You need to set boundaries on what you can accomplish, and plan for what to do in case you deliver early or don’t make it to a certain week. Be open with your fans, let them know your boundaries and what you can handle, and price your content accordingly.
Postpartum Camming
I only took five days off after I had my baby. I find the longer you are gone, the harder it is to get viewers back in your room when you come back. I also found it great to have some “me” time while providing for a baby. It was great to connect with my fans, talk to adults and feel sexy again, rather than just be a breastfeeding, diaper-changing robot. I was up at all hours of the night, so it was easy to just hop online and start working at 3 a.m. after feeding a crying baby.
I had also started experimenting with a Lovense lush while I was pregnant and found it was a great way to increase tips. However, I wasn’t able to use it after I had the baby. To help gain the same amount of tips, I started introducing other games into my shows like balloon prizes. I found that viewers love gambling, so I came up with fun games for them to play while I was adjusting to my postpartum body.
After having the baby, I also started playing into fetishes and discovered a new fan base. I was overproducing milk and started to integrate lactation into my shows. I found this whole new fan base that loved the opportunity to explore a new fetish together while having fun and feeling sexy.
Haylee Love is a Chaturbate cam model who can be followed at Chaturbate.com/haylee_love and @HayleeLoveXXX on Twitter.
