Labor and Delivery

[Timothy]

My wife's friend is expecting her third child and the father of the child has said he does NOT want to be present during labor and delivery. Given that, my wife's friend has asked HER to be present instead. Now, I was present for the birth of my child, but this whole scenario has me wondering - How many of you expectant fathers out there don't want to see your child born?

 

[CHenne]

Wow, I can't imagine not being there when any child of mine was born. What a shame that this dad is acting like this. Shame on him! Was he present for the other 2 children? Imagine how that third child will feel when they are older.

 

[Victor]

That's rather odd. Wasn't he there for the first two births? Why doesn't he want to be there for this one?

Like Chenne, I cannot imagine NOT being there for my child's birth.

 

[Enrique]

You will never be complete as a father if you are not there to witness your wife giving birth to your children. I was there the whole time my wife was in labor until delivery. I guess some husbands could not stomach what occurs in the labor and delivery rooms

 

[Betterman]

I would never leave my wife to go through that alone or even with a close relative/friend. The thought of not being there makes my stomach churn.

 

[Andersson]

I have never known of someone who has opted out of this before honestly and for being her 3rd, well is it also his 3rd child too? Maybe he is just not ready for something that intense.

 

[Victor]

I have never known of someone who has opted out of this before honestly and for being her 3rd, well is it also his 3rd child too? Maybe he is just not ready for something that intense.

Maybe, or maybe he was present for the first two but really didn't want to be and is finally being honest about it. I still don't see how someone could want to miss that experience though.

 

[BigDaddy]

Being present for the birth is a fairly new concept in the 50's and even into the 60's and 70's men were not allowed in the delivery room.

 

[Foster]

I didn't want to be there for the birth of my children but that was more down to my fear of hospitals, I hate the places. Having said which I was there and I'm glad I was, as scary as it was for me I imagine it was so much worse for my wife and I knew I needed to be there for her. Being there for our second child wasn't an issue after the first.

 

[Hedonologist]

It seems strange to some of us but some fathers just feel like that. I understand too that it is very strange, and not something I would want but some fathers just get nervous about these things. I think he will regret it later, but it's understandable why he would feel like this now.

 

[Victor Leigh]

Being present at the childbirth is a very natural thing to do. After all, it's the culmination of something that I started together with my wife. He may have his reasons for not wanting to be present. Perhaps he has developed an aversion to blood?

 

[Niceness8000]

My wife had a C-section. I was in there with her, but we couldn't see anything. We heard our son cry for the first time without actually seeing him. He had been born a few minutes before the nurses brought me over to see him. Then my wife had to wait for about 45 minutes before she saw him for the first time. (they had to stitch her incision back up).