Men should not attend the birth of their child says leading obstetrician

October 18, 2009 by Shawn Douglas  
Filed under: News, Pregnancy

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Men attending the birth of their child can make labor ‘more painful and more difficult’ for women claims the doctor.

Many men are excited about their new children and want to be with their partner when she gives birth. However, a leading obstetrician claims that during childbirth men create problems for the birthing woman and should have no part of the birth environment.

Dr. Michel Odent, a Frenchman and administrator for the Primal Health Research charity in London, links high expectations of men in the birth environment to the “industrialization of childbirth”.

“The ideal birth environment involves no men in general,” said Dr. Odent to the Observer.

“Having been involved for more than 50 years in childbirths in homes and hospitals in France, England and Africa, the best environment I know for an easy birth is where there is nobody around the woman in labor apart from a silent, low-profile and experienced midwife—and no doctor and no husband, nobody else.”

“In this situation, more often than not, the birth is easier and faster than what happens when there are other people around, especially male figures—husbands and doctors.”

Dr. Oden, set to take his message to the Royal College of Midwives’ annual conference next month, believes the anxiety brought on by male figures can cause a woman’s oxytocin levels to drop. Insufficient oxytocin, a hormone vital to the birthing process, may increase the need for a caesarean section.

“If she can’t release oxytocin, she can’t have effective contractions, and everything becomes more difficult. Labor becomes longer, more painful and more difficult because the hormonal balance in the woman is disturbed by the environment that’s not appropriate because of the presence of the man.”

Duncan Fisher, administrator of the site Dad Info, is debating with Odent at the Midwives’ conference, and he disagrees.

“I think Odent is wrong and is not basing his argument on evidence either that it damages men or their relationships with mothers. Of course, not all men are nervous and a lot of women would be even more nervous without their partner there. Mothers want them there because it is not home.”

Midwife Grace Thomas, who will moderate the Odent-Fisher debate, provides a middle voice. After performing her own research on the attitudes of expectant fathers, Thomas believes that both mothers and fathers go through their fair share of stress before and after the birth.

“Perhaps the midwifery profession has contributed to encouraging men to attend their child’s birth without understanding the impact of the birth both on them and on the mother. It’s important that we understand the psychology of the family unit and how to best help and prepare the father to attend his child’s birth,” said Thomas.

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