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A top obstetrician on why men should NEVER be at the birth of their child | the Daily Mail
Well, this should burn up the wires. This top UK obstetrician, as he writes in the the UK Daily Mail thinks that men should not be allowed in the delivery room:
For many years, I have not been able to speak openly about my views that the presence of a father in a delivery room is not only unnecessary, but also hinders labour.
To utter such a thing over the past two decades would have been regarded as heresy, and flies in the face of popular convention.
But having been involved in childbirth for 50 years, and having been in charge of 15,000 births, I have reached the stage where I feel it is time to state what I – and many midwives and fellow obstetricians – privately consider the obvious.
That there is little good to come for either sex from having a man at the birth of a child.
This attitude seems to come right out of the 1950s when human sexuality and reproduction were kept out of sight and under the sheets and child-bearing was meant to be some mystery never understood by men. This guy even suggests that some eroticism is lost when dads see their wives in childbirth. I’m sure this attitude carries forward into keeping women barefoot, pregnant, and stuck in the nursery where fathers are never seen. Thank the heavens that we’ve come a long way from then. I’m sure the good doctor will get a lot of approving head nods from people wishing we also lived in a time where skirts covered women’s ankles and children were allowed to work in garment factories.
For my part, being in the delivery room was an experience I would never have missed. I was first to hold both my babies while doctors tended to my wife, but that didn’t interfere at all with her bonding with them just minutes later. We saw this as a very special experience that was the the first major event of our new family and I wouldn’t miss it no matter what a hundred “experts” say.
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Shifts in Pregnancy and Work – facts dads should know on changing workplace for families
Take a look at the article on Shifts in Pregnancy and Work in today’s New York Times. I can remember when we had our first baby in 2000. Before kids, my wife was the proverbial superwoman, working long hours and jetting around constantly. Planning for the baby was like scheduling any other event. In fact, she even short-changed herself on the liberal pregnancy leave from her Fortune 100 company so she could get back to work in five weeks. By the time #2 came along though in 2004, she was well-aware of the toll baby-making takes on the body, and maxed out her pregnancy leave, and then some. I was glad she did.
Most women though are struggling with keeping jobs and refinding their place at work after having a baby. This is a huge family issue since more flexible work choices make dual parenting more possible. For some families, it just makes more sense for dad to stay at home for a bit while mom goes back to work.
The data in the New York Times shows women going back after pregnancy in larger numbers and paying less of a price in terms of job and salary. We still aren’t at a point where family’s aren’t penalized, but progress is being made since the anti-family ’60s.
In the early part of this decade, 55 percent returned to work within six months after giving birth; that figure was 14 percent in the early 1960s.
The share who said they returned to work at lower pay declined to just under 2 percent in the latest period from a little more than 4 percent in the early 1990s. College graduates were more likely to work during pregnancy, as were non-Hispanic white women.
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Do it yourself home Fertility Test
Wow, the Fertell-At Home Fertility Test for Him and Her sounds like a great start for confidential home fertility screening. It claims 95% accuracy. The female test measures th level of folllicle-stimulating hormone, and the guy’s checks the concentration of motile sperm (the guys that get the job done). Experts warn that fertility is more complicated than this, but these are the two main culprits. Depending on your situation, this might be a good first step. The kit also exists in a “guys only” format.
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Counting Kicks
Sometimes a new baby on the way is a bit abstract for a new dad. There’s not much he can do, and he can barely empathize with his wife’s ups and downs, or her connection with the baby growing insider her. Here’s a simple and useful new device that can help dad get more into the mode of protector and safekeeper. The VoiKex babykick kickTrak helps mom and dad together, or mom alone, keep track of the time it takes to complete ten movements. This number is stored and can be compared against data from the last ten sessions so mom and dad can feel safe that nothing has changed for the baby.
The KickTrak also counts down the last 99 days of pregnancy, and has a function for timing contractions when labor begins.
The KickTrack was designed by an obstetrician and is recommended by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Popularity: unranked
Floating raft for pregnant moms
This is either incredibly funny, or wildly useful, or maybe both. For the mom-to-be who has everything including a pool and time to lie around in it, this could be a great gift for the last 3 months of pregnancy where everything becomes impossible and frustrating. I love the illustrations, though it looks scarily like you’re leaving the belly open to shark attack. Available soon at BellyFlopz.com.
Popularity: 1%
