Yet, French obstetrician Michel Odent says that men should stay away. He believes that anxious males could prevent their partners from producing the hormone oxytocin that aids in delivery and is also released during sexual activity. Odent blames the presence of males in delivery rooms for higher rates of Caesarean section. In short, he believes the birthing areas have become too masculine.

Odent was interviewed by BBC, and you can read his comments in the article, “Should dads be in the delivery room?” Michel Odent, MD is the founder of the Primal Health Research Centre in London. In Pithiviers, France, he developed a maternity unit where birthing pools are used. Odent is also the author of numerous books, including The Farmer and the Obstetrician and Scientification of Love.

How do you feel about Odent’s views on the father participating in births? Perhaps some fathers are anxious, and some even faint, but it seems like the emotional support most provide would be very worthwhile.

Do you believe that most women honestly want their partners in the room with them? It’s difficult to say if most women really want their partners in the room or if they just go along with it because it’s become the modern custom. Some women fear that the father witnessing the birth may affect the couple’s sexual relationship.

What are your feelings on the topic of partners in the delivery room?

(Image via MorgueFile)

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Should Fathers Be Present at Birth?

O is also for:

Obstetrician: A doctor whose specialty is caring for pregnant women and delivering babies.

Obstructed labor: If your labor is slowing down or has even stopped, this would be called obstructed labor

Oxytocin (Pitocin): Oxytocin is the generic name of a drug that is given, by intravenous, to help start or intensify labor contractions. Pitocin is the brand name.

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ABCs of pregnancy: O is for…

You can read more about this in the article New Training for Doctors to Reduce Postpartum Bleeding, which also discusses the efforts to reduce episiotomies, or the surgical cutting of tissue between the vagina and the anus in an attempt to prevent tearing as the baby is born.

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Oxytocin reduces blood loss after delivery