# A 'Birth Party'?? Are you kidding me? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 16, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-birth-party-are-you-kidding-me/536388 "2010-04-16T20:34:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-birth-party-are-you-kidding-me/536388/21 "2010-04-16T22:42:03Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > 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 You forgot the rows of seats overlooking the birthing room, the operating theatre seating. This is where your friends and extended family would sit. No popcorn allowed though. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-birth-party-are-you-kidding-me/536388/22 "2010-04-16T23:11:20Z")
Oh, _hell_ no. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-birth-party-are-you-kidding-me/536388/23 "2010-04-16T23:28:41Z")
> [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#): > > You forgot the rows of seats overlooking the birthing room, the operating theatre seating. This is where your friends and extended family would sit. No popcorn allowed though. Oh right. I wonder if I could get Martin Scorsese to direct the whole thing… ---
**Author:** ![Baracus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@Baracus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baracus)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-birth-party-are-you-kidding-me/536388/24 "2010-04-17T00:27:55Z")
This brings to mind a story I read in our local paper a couple years back about a family doing a home water birth. They invited friends and family over to come view the expectant mother give birth in a kiddie pool in their living room. “But how did the guests fully appreciate the distension of her hoo-hah if it was underwater?” you might wonder. Fear not, their eldest daughter had a flashlight. When my wife gave birth she didn’t like the fact that there were 2-3 extra people in there ready to suction our daughter’s lungs because there was meconium in the amniotic fluid. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-birth-party-are-you-kidding-me/536388/25 "2010-04-17T00:31:06Z")
You know, a lot of women react to labor/giving birth by emphatically _not_ wanting a lot of extra people around. I wonder what would happen if you had a room full of birth partyers, and the mom suddenly realized that extra people were totally unacceptable and everyone must leave right that very second? ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-birth-party-are-you-kidding-me/536388/26 "2010-04-17T00:35:56Z")
> [@dangermom](#): > > You know, a lot of women react to labor/giving birth by emphatically _not_ wanting a lot of extra people around. I wonder what would happen if you had a room full of birth partyers, and the mom suddenly realized that extra people were totally unacceptable and everyone must leave right that very second? Well she wouldn’t be much of a hostess, would she? I wonder what sort of party favours one offers to guests at a birthing party… ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-birth-party-are-you-kidding-me/536388/27 "2010-04-17T00:38:07Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > Well she wouldn’t be much of a hostess, would she? > > I wonder what sort of party favours one offers to guests at a birthing party… Placenta in a small party bag, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-birth-party-are-you-kidding-me/536388/28 "2010-04-17T00:58:13Z")
I have a girlfriend who had a large party in her delivery room for her kids. There was her husband. Her mother and father. A cousin or two. Some friends (they called looking for a dinner date, they said ‘come on down’). Unusual people. That aside… BAD IDEA. Particularly the summons. Its important to her to have everyone present? Wow…self absorbed anyone. I didn’t summon people in that fashion to my wedding - an event that it is normal to ask your friends to witness. And my own sister couldn’t make it and that was fine. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-birth-party-are-you-kidding-me/536388/29 "2010-04-17T01:00:54Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > Particularly the summons. Its important to her to have everyone present? Wow…self absorbed anyone. No kidding - like she’s the first person in history to have a baby…:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Salem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@Salem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Salem)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-birth-party-are-you-kidding-me/536388/30 "2010-04-17T01:18:58Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Placenta in a small party bag, of course. Well that’s just plain silly, and messy, too. Placenta Pops- that’s the way to go. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-birth-party-are-you-kidding-me/536388/31 "2010-04-17T01:40:18Z")
I have a feeling this woman doesn’t realize that most of the time, you poop during pushing. Does she really want to poop in front of her in-laws? Also, there’s a theory called “the sphincter law” that posits that women need privacy and calm to labor efficiently. You know how some people have shy bladders and can’t pee with others around? The same applies to the cervix. And yeah, how do you work the timing issue? Tell everyone to “save the date” 24 hours a day during a five-week period or so? ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-birth-party-are-you-kidding-me/536388/32 "2010-04-17T01:44:54Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > 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. The hospital I was at had a birthing room, with a hospital bed and the assorted items in one area, a couch (which I think pulled out into a bed) and a coffee table in another and all the stuff to check baby off to the side of the hospital bed. It also had a private bathroom with shower. Once I was checked in I stayed in that room until I gave birth (I suppose I could have walked the halls but by that point I didn’t want to walk), he was checked out and I had my shower. Then we were moved to a recovery room which I shared with someone (much later, I spent most of the night alone with my son). I certainly wouldn’t have wanted a whole lot of people there! My Mom, the doctor and the nurse was enough! ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-birth-party-are-you-kidding-me/536388/33 "2010-04-17T02:00:06Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > I have a feeling this woman doesn’t realize that most of the time, you poop during pushing. Does she really want to poop in front of her in-laws? No kidding - I really don’t even want to crap in front of my husband - yitch! Also, around these parts they like you to start breast feeding right away which I’m very nervous about (well, not the feeding part, but I’m nervous that I won’t be good at it, or Junior will have trouble, or my boobs will be the wrong shape or whatever). Nothing like an audience to enhance performance anxiety during such an activity! ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-birth-party-are-you-kidding-me/536388/34 "2010-04-17T02:06:08Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > I have a feeling this woman doesn’t realize that most of the time, you poop during pushing. Does she really want to poop in front of her in-laws? I was not aware of this… … remember my comment about sticking near the head of my baby’s momma during childbirth? Check that. I’ll be waiting in the hall. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-birth-party-are-you-kidding-me/536388/35 "2010-04-17T02:10:00Z")
I just love the naive assumption that it will be a nice normal birth. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-birth-party-are-you-kidding-me/536388/36 "2010-04-17T03:13:47Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > 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., I’m seeing this image as a cross between a Dr. Seuss cartoon and a Tim Burton movie… ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-birth-party-are-you-kidding-me/536388/37 "2010-04-17T03:18:05Z")
There’s a simple solution to all these competing interests, already demonstrated on these boards. Obviously, what Miss Manners’ correspondent needs is a [Live Birthing Cam](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=555148)! Exhibitionist mom-to-be can broadcast it all to the web; all her relatives can smile, lie, and say “Yes, we watched the whole thing” and everyone’s happy! ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-birth-party-are-you-kidding-me/536388/38 "2010-04-17T03:29:23Z")
If someone – and I don’t care how close we are – called me up at 3am to tell me that she was giving birth and I should go to the hospital now, she’d hear a string of four-letter words and a dial tone. I’d consider buying her a card after work the next day. Which brings up the question: who exactly is going to take the time to phone up 25 party guests at 3am, try to talk them through their sleep-addled confusion, and get them to go to the hospital… all the while the lady’s in labor and needs to get to the hospital her own damn self? Is she going to assign her husband to do that? Her mom? So much for having her closest relatives there – I can’t imagine how long it would take to dial up and talk through the entire list (particularly if they value their sleep as much as I do). ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-birth-party-are-you-kidding-me/536388/39 "2010-04-17T03:31:36Z")
> [@Kaio](#): > > Which brings up the question: who exactly is going to take the time to phone up 25 party guests at 3am, try to talk them through their sleep-addled confusion, and get them to go to the hospital… all the while the lady’s in labor and needs to get to the hospital her own damn self? Is she going to assign her husband to do that? Her mom? So much for having her closest relatives there – I can’t imagine how long it would take to dial up and talk through the entire list (particularly if they value their sleep as much as I do). Doncha know you’re supposed to be glued to her Facebook? Duh. Why can’t you be more considerate of her, and think more about her needs? She’s _pregnant_, after all!! (cue holy music) ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-birth-party-are-you-kidding-me/536388/40 "2010-04-17T08:18:33Z")
Sorry, I only accept invitations to the Conception Party. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-birth-party-are-you-kidding-me/536388.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-birth-party-are-you-kidding-me/536388.md?page=3)