I have talked to some fathers that were present at their child’s delivery approximately 30 years ago and they mentioned the extensive washing of hands and wearing scrubs and paper mouth guards in the delivery room. It seems like this was treated as more of a surgical procedure even though it was a typical vaginal delivery.
I was present at my daughter’s birth approximately 2 years ago and there was none of this. The delivery room was was pretty laid back and comfy with chairs. Family could come and go as they pleased with no preparation or any special clothing necessary.
Were these experiences typical for their times? Was there a reason the mentality of delivery changed?
I was present for both of my daughters’ births in street clothes and no special precautions as well. I think there’s been a push in recent years to demedicalize childbirth as much as possible.
Liability would be one factor. In addition we have an increased awareness and increased incidence of problems like MRSA. Hospital procedures in general have become more stringent.
My oldest was born in 1986. They tossed a robe on me, I don’t even recall a mask.
I was actually postulating the opposite. They used to be stringent, now they are laid-back. It is not the typical way things go, so it made me curious.
Well once again I misread an OP. So things weren’t that stringent 30 years ago in my experience, and recently I’ve seen an improvement at hospitals. Could be that on average nothing has changed.
In the delivery room/birthing room, dad is in whatever he wore to the hospital, no scrubbing, someone might hand you a bottle of hand sanitizer, but that’s probably more likely after the baby is born.
For a C-section, dad is gowned up and gloved up, including hair cover and face mask. The face mask is optional for pictures. There was no scrubbing as I wasn’t going to be near the C-section, the gloves were sufficient for holding the baby.
YIHRMV - Your individual hospital’s rules may vary.
2 c-sections, had to wear a gown and a hair cover, no face mask or gloves. I held the babies after they’d been cleaned up and while their mother was being stitched up. And there was no way in hell I was ever going to look over the screen.
My daughter is 48. IL state law forbade non-medical personnel in the delivery room. I was seated just outside the door in street clothes. (They insisted I sit because some fathers fainted.) I saw her come out and washed under a gooseneck faucet. My older son is 46 and was born in Switzerland. They were totally uptight. They were kept in the hospital for a week and I saw him only behind glass. They brought him to my wife for nursing only reluctantly and then supplemented it so my she had trouble establishing her milk until she got him home. My younger son is 40 and was born here in Montreal. I was in the delivery room with nothing special. No scrub, no mask, street clothes. On the other hand I was behind my wife’s head, so I didn’t see a lot of the delivery.
Daughter born vaginally almost six years ago: I wore whatever I had on, no special clothing.
Triplet sons born by C-section three months ago: I was gowned up with cap and mask, but I don’t think I had on gloves. I was brought in right before the actual extraction of the kids began, cut all three umbilicals (with the same pair of scissors!), and followed the boys to the nursery while my wife was closed back up.
A C-section is an open surgical procedure, so it’s hardly surprising that they’d be concerned about sterility there. Pretty laid-back for the vaginal delivery, though.
Believe it or not, I’m actually sitting in a labor & delivery room of a big Dallas hospital with my wife, who’s in labor with our 2nd son right now.
I’m wearing what I’d wear to work- polo shirt, jeans, casual shoes, which happens to be exactly what I wore for the first son. I think I’m actually wearing the same pair of shoes.
Both are vaginal births- I doubt I have to even wear gloves to cut the cord; I didn’t the first time around.
I think the commentary about de-medicalizing the birthing process is right on the mark- it’s not like your typical clinical hospital procedure at all.
Not about births per se, but my wife worked in a Special Care Baby Unit for 30 years. She saw huge advances in the medical treatment of premature babies, and in the way that the parents were treated. In the early days, it was quite common to keep the mother away from her tiny (often less than 1lb) baby, but as attitudes changed in general, so they did on the unit.
Very early on, the mothers were actively encouraged to bond - not easy with breathing, feeding, transfusion and infusion tubes in the way, but they did what they could. Of course, not all mothers (fathers were frequently not around) could or would engage.
On hygiene, they had to follow stringent procedures to prevent cross infection - the motto on the unit was “If you have nothing to do - wash your hands.” However, a mother, who was only in contact with her own baby (or babies) was much less of a problem, and there is no real need to be sterile when changing a nappy (diaper).
No parent was expected to wear a gown or mask, and if their baby was doing well, they would be encouraged to handle them as much as possible. Bear in mind that some of these babies would be in the unit for several months.
My daughter was born in 2011 at 30 weeks and was in special care for five weeks.
She was only in an incubator for a day or two, and we never had to wear any special clothing or anything to visit her. Just a thorough had wash when we entered, and a squirt of hand sanitiser “when we remembered”, but we were allowed to handle and hold her as soon as she was out of the incubator. In fact they actively encouraged skin-to-skin contact: I’d take my shirt off, put a hospital gown on and tuck her down the front against my chest and sit there for an hour or so. Quite relaxing for both parties
BTW hats off to your wife for doing such an important job. The SCBU nurses who looked after my daughter were totally brilliant.
My youngest, now 9, spent a few hours in the neonatal ICU right after she was born - for being oversized, BTW. I, her father, was with her the entire time. They didn’t ask me to do anything - no hand washing, no gown, booties, mask, gloves, etc. I did only interact with my daughter, but there were several tiny preemies & other newborns with significant health issues in the same room.
Younger daughter, now 28, was born in the birthing room. No special clothes or washing. I even ate inside the room while waiting.
Older daughter, now 33 was brought into a delivery room because of a heart irregularity, and was delivered by forceps. (Too advanced for a C-section thank Og.) I got to watch through a window, and when done (false alarm) got gowned up and washed my hands. So it was more the location than the delivery.
It’s going to vary, not only by hospital, but by nurse. But in general, it’s been noticed that Dad’s germs aren’t very different from Mom’s germs, assuming they share a household, and childbirth itself is not a sterile procedure (although parts of the interventions, like episiotomies or placing sutures may be done with sterile technique). So it’s not really necessary to have Dad do anything more than wash his hands before handling the baby. Outcomes are not any better with elaborate scrubs, chemical gels or hand sanitizers after washing with soap and water or PPE (Personal Protective Equipment, ie gloves, gowns, masks, foot coverings.)
But you’ve still got some old battleaxes who may insist on more than a simple handwashing, based on old guidelines they haven’t updated in their heads. I got chewed out by a positively ancient nurse a few weeks ago for lying down on the gigantic king sized hospital bed next to my sister - 8 hours after the baby was born. Sis told her to fuck off and that was the end of that. The same nurse also taught her the wrong way to swaddle the baby (legs tight and straight down - the way we now know causes hip problems) so she was clearly not keeping up with the latest recommendations in her field.
Totally different for a c-section, of course. That’s major abdominal surgery, and sterile procedure start to finish and everyone in the room should be as clean as possible.
Yep - all that was perfectly normal - certainly by the 90s. I used to collect her from work sometimes (I worked in the same hospital) and would sit with her as she tried to persuade a tiny baby, the size of my hand, to take just a little nourishment from a bottle. In the same room, there would be mothers and a few fathers feeding their own babies - by breast and bottle. Not a gown or a rubber glove in sight.
Unfortunately, the main precursors for premature births include: (very) young mothers, poor diet, absence of paternal support.
