Should dads be in the delivery room?

...asks an article on the BBC website today. You can check it out here.

I'm totally bemused by this article.

"The presence of an anxious male partner in the labour room makes the woman
tense and slows her production of the hormone oxytocin, which aids the process
of labour, so the French doctor contends. "

Really? I find that Alex is the one person in the world who can tell me shut up and calm down and (very) occasionally, I listen. When I was in agony in hospital in June after the accident, whether it was the torture of being lifted onto the CT scanner with multiple fractures, or the agony and terror of the compartment syndrome, waiting for surgery and fearing I'd lose my leg, the one person in the world who made it bareable was Alex. His support and love (OK get ready to feel sick now folks) made me feel like I could get through the pain, no matter how bad it was. I cannot think how I would even begin to cope with labour without him being at my side. Plus, how could I ever deny him witnessing the birth of his first-born son? Not that I'd get a choice mind, I don't think wild horses would keep him out of the delivery room!

"Some of them are very attuned to the emotional and psychological needs of their partner...."

Oh yes, Alex has always been as bigger a girl as me - only kidding Alex! No, he's always been bloody brilliant - maybe that came from his ambulance-driving grandfather, and one of Dylan's namesakes? I always content he'd make a brilliant nurse if it were not for the fact he'd care too much and probably end up depressed. He's been so brilliant throughout my pregnancy and accident recuperation... I promise you he hasn't paid me to write this glowing report - I'm just a very lucky girl!

"...but if they are shocked by bodily fluids and very agitated by the pain
they see her in, this could play on her mind and stop her psychologically
entering the place she needs to be to deliver the baby - the birthing 'zone', if
you like."

I have no fear of this after a fortnight of blood and bedpans in UCLH... though I may keep him at the head end anyway! Tee hee!

This quote sums it up

"Having a baby together is an intense, life-changing experience that most
couples want to experience together. The father can be an immensely reassuring
presence for the mother."

Plus why should he miss out on the good and bad parts of birth? If I have to go through it, he can sure as hell come along for the ride!


So there