Forget Boner-Killing Bloody Vaginas: Childbirth Can Make Men Mentally-Ill

Anna — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 12:30:00 EDT

"Why Men Should NEVER Be At The Birth Of Their Child" blares the headline in today's Daily Mail. But if you assume that the accompanying story immediately launches into an appeal for a return to "modesty" and warnings about how witnessing childbirth can kill a man's libido, you'd be wrong. (That crops up in the third part of the piece!) Nope, Reason No. 1 that men should be banished to birthing ward waiting areas is that their pregnant partners can't multitask. "A labouring woman needs to be protected against any stimulation of the thinking part of her brain - the neocortex - for labour to proceed with any degree of ease," writes Ob/Gyn Michel Odent, who is said to have presided over some 50,000 births. "A woman in labour needs to be in a private world where she doesn't have to think or talk. Yet, motivated by a desire to 'share the experience', the man asks questions and offers words of reassurance and advice." The other bad thing about inviting big boys in the birthing room? Witnessing such a thing can make them mentally-ill.

"In its mild form, men often take to their bed in the week following the birth, complaining of everything from a stomach ache or migraine," claims Dr. Odent. "And in the most graphic example, one perfectly healthy man had his first experience of schizophrenia two days after watching his wife give birth. Was this his way of escaping reality?" Normally, such a statement would have us laughing so hard we'd be curled up into the fetal position but another article — this from the much-respected Guardian — is reporting that male postnatal depression is not only a reality, but a harbinger of future child behavioral problems. Certainly, the story — which comes out of a study at the University of Bristol — makes absolutely no correlation between paternal depression and childbirth, but we have a feeling that Dr. Odent will be taking this latest news and running with it all the way to the NHS maternity wards.

A Top Obstetrician On Why Men Should NEVER Be At The Birth Of Their Child [Daily Mail]
Male Postnatal Depression Affects Child Behaviour, Study Shows [Guardian]

Daddy In Delivery Room: Do Or Don't?

Dodai — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 18:30:00 EDT

There are some hilarious tales in today's Mirror from UK dads who were — and were not — present while their wives gave birth. Stuart Austin, 33, says if he had to do it again, he'd "be like a 1950s father, sitting in the corridor and waiting for the baby's scream." He was at his son's birth because, as he says, "that's what men of my generation do... I didn't feel I had a choice." His wife, Teresa, had a difficult labor and the doctors decided she needed a Cesarean. When she was crying in pain and about to get the epidural, Stuart was holding her hand, thinking, he couldn't go on. "My head swam and my knees buckled. I let go and walked to the door. I could hear Teresa screaming: 'Where are you going?' It was awful. I got into the corridor, sunk into a chair and told [my sister] Kasie to take over."

Dominic Martinez, 33, has two sons, and was at both of their births. He says he wanted to be there for his wife, Fi. "There wasn't a time during her pregnancy when she asked whether I wanted to be at her side. Rightly, Fi just assumed that if she was going to go through it, so was I," he says. "I'll admit the nine hours Fi was in labor with Lawrence were hard to watch, but let's face it, it was tougher for her than me." The story also includes a quote from chef Gordon Ramsay, who missed the births of all four of his kids. Ramsey says attending a childbirth is like being "stuck in a room with a thousand skinned rabbits." (Uh, how would he know if he's never been?) But seriously, if a guy gets you knocked up, shouldn't he be there to witness what he's done?

Should You Be There When She Gives Birth? [Mirror]

Jezebel: labor & delivery

Forget Boner-Killing Bloody Vaginas: Childbirth Can Make Men Mentally-Ill

Daddy In Delivery Room: Do Or Don't?