Editorial: Just sing out if you need anything

Opinion

Woody Allen famously said that he was not afraid of death; he just didn't want to be there when it happened.

A lot of men are a bit like that about birth. They are prepared - well, happy even; all right, more than happy - to be there at the conception and they will even assist during the development process, preparing meals of bacon with peanut butter and suchlike. But when it comes to the delivery stage, some of them feel a bit awkward. For a start, there's more yelling than in a rugby league grand final and more blood than at a prize fight and it can all be a bit overwhelming.

Help is at hand in the form of an obstetrician called Michel Odent. A Frenchman famous for pioneering water births (remember them?) told a conference of midwives in Manchester that birth is like many other things - it works much better if men stay out of the way. The father's presence at the birth, he says, can make the labour longer, more painful and more complicated because the mother senses his anxiety and becomes nervous.

Some blokes have taken exception, saying the birth of their child was a beautiful experience, more moving even than when Buck Shelford flattened Huw Richards in the 1987 World Cup quarterfinal and the Welshman, once he had woken up, got sent off.

But the rest reckon Monsieur Odent has got it right. The last thing they want to do is cause problems. They'll be waiting down the pub, they say. Just let them know when all the crying's over.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY