Father's Presence During Labor: Help or Hindrance?

I've recently come across some interesting quotes. Michel Odent and Grantly Dick Read are both prominent obstetricians in natural birth circles and have spoken and written extensively in support of natural physiological birth. However, they don't agree on everything. Take a look at these opposing viewpoints:

‎"When a woman in labor knows that she will not be disturbed, that her questions will be answered honestly and every consideration given her, then she will be better able to relax and give birth with her body’s neuromuscular perfection intact. The presence of her loving husband and/or a supportive attendant will add to her feelings of security and peace, so she can center upon the task at hand." ~Grantly Dick Read

"The most common cause for a long and difficult labor is the presence of the baby's father." ~Michel Odent, M.D.

‎"When you are in hard labor, remember that the length of labor is usually proportional to the number of people around. Avoid the presence of anybody who might release adrenaline. The best situation I know for an easy birth is when there is nobody else around than an experienced, motherly and silent midwife who does not behave like a guide or an observer." ~Michel Odent, M.D.

So what do you think? Which is it? Is the father's presence during labor comforting and beneficial to the process, or does it detract and possibly hinder it?

When I was in labor I always felt comforted by my husband's presence and support. Even simply having him in the room with me helped me relax more deeply and feel more comfortable and at ease, but having him right next to me, touching me, was even better. Of course, if he'd been busy watching football or playing video games it would have definitely detracted and caused more stress for me. The key for me was having his focus on me during that time, and he has always done that very well.

What are your thoughts? What's been your experience?

The Essential Ingredient: Doula

From DONA International

"a baby story tlc dr vaginal breech"

I have this tracking widget installed on my blog that I can check whenever I want to.  It's a live feed that shows roughly the last 50 hits on my blog.  It's pretty nifty, and it shows me where each hit comes from (usually just a regional area), which browser and operating system they use, whether they were arriving to or leaving from my blog, and how long ago it was.  One of my favorite features is that it shows how someone got to my blog, whether it was through a link on another site, a direct entry, or through an internet search.  


I like looking specifically at the phrases that people search for which lead them to my blog.  For instance, I get a lot of searches for "postpartum binding" or similar verbage.  I'm a little embarrassed to admit that page gets more hits compared to any other page on my blog.  I think it's sad, and an indication of the world in which we live, that the majority of the people online are searching for something related to body image rather than something like "intrahepatic cholestasis in pregnancy" or "hellp syndrome", or even something as simple as "benefits and risks of epidural".  Yes, I do get the occasional hit on those topics, but not as often as I'd like.  I guess I just expect people to be as interested in all of these pregnancy-related topics as I am, and it surprises me that I don't see more searches for what I consider to be the more weighty issues that pregnancy and birth involve.


Once in a while I come across a really interesting search phrase.  One which makes me wish I could somehow track down that person who searched for it and have a really good conversation with him or her.  For instance, someone recently found my blog by searching the phrase "a baby story tlc dr vaginal breech".  Sadly the search engine directed the person to this page, probably because the post title included the first 4 words in the search phrase.  That's not so bad, but it would have been really nice if, instead, the person could have been directed to any number of my blog posts regarding breech babies: Breech Resources: Turning a Breech Baby, Breech Baby,  Thinking Out Loud Re: Breech Babies, Breech Presentation: Risks and Options,  among others.  I'll just blame the search engine for not reading my mind on where to send people!  


At any rate, the reason I wish I could speak with this person is twofold: 

1. I would like to explain that he or she would be hard-pressed to find any episode of TLC's A Baby Story which shows a vaginal breech birth with a doctor, or any vaginal breech birth for that matter.  I've never seen one yet, and I have watched that show more times than I probably should admit to.
2. I'd really just love to sit down and talk about breech babies with this person, and share my own beautiful story of my vaginal breech home birth.  There has got to be a reason this person was looking for footage of a vaginal breech birth, and whatever that reason is I wish I could be of more help than what a silly search engine provides.  At least if someone searches for that phrase now, it will bring them here.

Here's a tip for anyone that uses search engines to find blog posts.  Blogger, and many other blogs have a search function at the top of the page.  If the page your search brings you to doesn't match what you're looking for, try using the internal search function to do a search within that blog itself and see if something more relevant comes up.  Happy reading!