Men At Birth

By Harald Breiding-Buss

It has been something like a revolution: fathers’ attendance at the birth of their babies has skyrocketed from not being allowed in the delivery room at all to more than 90% within a matter of 10 years at the most.

If it was a revolution, it was a rather quiet one, however. Men weren’t exactly marching down the streets holding banners demanding their right to welcome their offspring into the world.

But maybe that is not what fathers’ presence at the birth is all about even now. Although an American survey has found that men spontaneously name being there at the birth of their baby as the most significant event in their lives, as far as health services are concerned they are mainly there to support the mother.

Ever since men were allowed in the delivery room, midwives’ and docters’ attitudes have been ambivalent. In the early days of the discussion midwives complained that the men were “no use” or “in the way” that they required “extra attention” because they were prone to fainting or sudden emotional outbursts.

Perhaps symptomatic for the role of men in our society, fathers presence at delivery was only discussed in terms of their usefulness.

If women had not demanded that their partners be let in, as a right for the women rather than the men, it may never have happened.

However what is still know as “maternity services” still often treats fathers as tolerated add-ons to the new or grown family rather than an integral part to the whole process. And the men themselves go to ante-natal classes not because they find the expected from them.

Fathers who do not live with the mother stay away, although many if not most of them do come when the baby is being born.

Fathers’ “usefulness” has long since been shown in research. Whether it is the length of the labour, its stressfulness, the length of gestation, breastfeeding, postnatal depression – women meet the challanges, master the problems far easier the more involved their partners are.

Even their biology seems to adjust – the more involved the partner, the less likely is the woman to have a premature birth.

Add to that the research which indicates how fathers stimulate their babies in ways that let them develop not only faster but more complete, and you have a strong case for an all family approach in maternity services.

That this is taking so long is perhaps not all that surprising. While childbirth and early baby parenting has been “masculinised” in terms of more and more fathers taking an in creased role and interest, delivery of maternity services has been “feminised”, i.e it has been put more in the hands of midwives.

Women working with women inevitably creates a feminine environment in which men feel about as welcome as a sole woman in an all-male football team. They rather stay on the sidelines.

Midwifery training also increasingly focusses on childbirth and child raising as a “women’s issue” at a time when men particpate more, and more often take over a primary caregiving role very earley in the lives of the baby.

Midwifery students are now required to read a whole range of books on women’s issues, women’s status in society ect. – -to many such students, including men more may seem like bringing back the partriarchy.

But midwives have also been the most innovative in including fathers.

It is perhaps not suprising that it was independently operating midwives like homebirth midwives or those running the alternative Christchurch Avonlea facility who took on board the idea of a special fathers module in ante-natal classes first, and who opened their service, very close to the client, and expecting mothers consistently indicate how important their partners are in the process for them.

Similar attempts in the mainstream health system have occasionally failed, or exist as a very marginal service.

It all comes down to the question: who is the client of “maternity” services?

Perhaps it is time to acknowledge the relationship issues inherent in new families and starting to supporth this relationship from both ends.

Next: Im A Dad – Listen To Me