Yesterday a wonderful patient delivered her beautiful baby. It was her first.
After delivering the baby’s head and anterior shoulder I turned to Dad and asked if he wanted to take over. He nervously said, “what do I do?” I showed him where to put his hands and supported him as he delivered his son with great pride and joy.
I find there are some dads who at an antenatal visit ask if they can help with the delivery, others to whom you make the offer to help say no with a comment such as “that is what I am paying you to do”, and then there are those who you invite impromptu, they nervously agree, they do a great job and are thrilled they were asked.
While it is not always possible to make the offer because of extra considerations with the delivery, I have never had any dad who said “yes” regret it afterwards but to the contrary, they usually say “wow, that was fantastic!”
