The magic of modern video technology allowed a U.S. Marine serving in Iraq to take part in the birth of his daughter in Kentucky Wednesday, according to a newspaper report.

Cpl. Andy Powell watched Bailey Mae Powell enter the world via live video feed from a laptop computer's Webcam, said the Lexington Herald-Ledger.

Click here to read the Lexington Herald-Ledger story.

Powell, 23, and his wife, Kristin Powell, both Kentucky natives, were married last April while he was stationed in Quantico, Va. He shipped out to Iraq in June after his wife had become pregnant, said the report.

Kristin Powell moved back to Burgin, Kentucky to live with her mother while her spouse was still in the Persian Gulf.

After reading of a previous birth captured on Webcam, Powell asked the staff of Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center in Danville if it could do the same. The hospital spent hundreds of dollars to add two Webcams.

The actual birth was not aired due to hospital policy but the live feed went up shortly after Kristin Powell delivered Bailey Mae, who weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces, and was 19 inches long.

"It's the best birthday present ever," the Herald-Ledger quoted Andy Powell, who turned 23 on Monday.