Erm…what? I really do think that people should do whatever the heck they like when it comes to childbirth, and I also thing that the most well-meaning advice is usually best kept to oneself unless explicitly asked for, but I gotta say - do people DO this now? Invite their extended family and friends in to watch their va-jay-jay rended in half by an emerging baby???
What could possibly be the motivation? Sympathy? Extra gifts? Trying to win a Gross-Out contest?
I mean, I’m 5.5 months pregnant and I don’t consider myself particularly shy, but I sure don’t want my dad/uncles/brother looking at my twat, regardless of if there’s a kid popping out of it or not. Am I perhaps just behind the times? Is this a ‘done’ thing now?
I mean, I even told my husband he should stay up near my head and avoid the nitty-gritty stuff.
Nuts. Absolutely, totally, insanely nuts - that’s what that idea is. Heck, I didn’t even want my husband to videotape the birth - who do you show such a tape to?? :eek:
Years ago, I had a coworker who not only photographed the birth of his child, but he brought the photos to work to share - photos of the actual birth!!! Some people jest ain’t right…
We would be honored to have your presence at the lancing of the butt boil, April 21, 2010 and 8:30 a.m. and St. Cecil’s Hospital, OR 52. To be followed by post-op photos and a BYOB reception in the recovery room. Children welcome.
We hope to see you there! (Registry information enclosed.)
I think some people watch WAY too many sitcoms where there’s always a roomful of people at a birth.
The only non-medical people that will be allowed in the room when I’m squeezing this one out are my husband and my doula.
And I don’t think this is a “done” thing now, either - I’m in my late 20s and have a lot of friends aside from myself who have had or are having kids now. Not a single one of them invited groups of people to the birth.
While I understand your obsession with the birth canal, it’s entirely possible to be in the room without ever seeing it, and still be present and involved to share the momentous occasion. I wouldn’t want a crowd, but if someone else does it’s fine with me.
The crotch shot isn’t the only issue. If I ever do have a baby, the only way a camera will be allowed is if I’m having a C-section (because I want to see it).
If I have a vaginal birth, the father ONLY. If he can’t be there, my oldest sister ONLY.
People are stressful. Childbirth is stressful. Who the hell wants all those people watching them screaming and crying and pushing? Even if all eyes are not on the crotch it would still be creepy to me to have all those people watching me.
Hell, I don’t even let most people see me in my underpants!
Childbirth is not the time to have performance anxiety.
In addition to aesthetic objections, I’d imagine there are likely to be some practical ones: Babies tend to emerge on their own schedule (first ones can be surprisingly unpunctual) and not always from the anticipated orifice. Given the chances of an unscripted turn of events, I’d imagine medical personnel might be less than enthusiastic about the “birth party” idea.
Right? I always thought there were rules regarding how many people were in the delivery room during the actual birth. Of coure, I’m just going off of what I see on TV.
Either way, if I was the one giving birth, I certainly wouldn’t want an audience.
Well, when Junior decides to make his entrance, only the Mr. is allowed to be there. Once I move into the actual birthing room (or whatever) one more person (my mom, in my case) is allowed in.
I assumed that in the linked story, the mom-to-be in question is planning on having a home-birth where I guess you could have whomever you wanted, although I would be surprised if the midwife (or whatever) would actually want a huge audience either.
I don’t know what birthing room means. When we had our kids, the delivery (C-section) happened in one room, then my mother-in-law and I sat with the baby for a while in a second room, then we all joined my wife in her recover room. I wouldn’t see any problem with having a larger group of people in that second room - assuming the hospital would have allowed it.
The birthing room is the room where the birth takes place. In the hospital (which is where I’ll be) I suspect there’s a bunch of equipment, a bed, a variety of squatting devices, a shower, etc basically so mom can pace around and try various ways to get the kid out of her. I believe if things go wrong they also do the c-section in there. This room is attached to the bedroom.
I know for a fact that in my hospital, 2 people is the maximum allowed in either space, even after junior arrives. I believe WAAAY after the fact, grandparents are allowed to stop by for short visits, but that’s it (local hospitals have really cracked down in recent years about 27 family and friends hanging around the halls wanting to see the baby; however, the 27 people have NEVER been allowed in the actual birthing room).
Birthing room means just that- the room that you give birth in. The hospital bed breaks down into a bed to give birth in, stuff comes out of the walls, etc., then after the birth everything is hidden away and that’s where the mom and dad stay until discharge. I assume this is just for vaginal deliveries and c/s are done in the operating room and then come to this room until discharge.
Gah, stupid time-outs.
At the hospitals I gave birth in (2), you could have whoever and as many as you wanted in at the birth. But if you didn’t want people in there, the nurses would be the bad guys and say it was the rules.
