That is a seriously dumb reason. A much better reason is that birth is sometimes traumatic for either mother or child and a clear head needs to be able to make potentially critical medical decisions.

This happened to me, actually: I was present when daughter number one was born, and Mrs. T had a mild medical problem that could have turned serious. The rurse asked Mrs. T a question, who answered it -- but I could see that she wasn't really tracking the question well, so I jumped in and asked Mrs. T the same question but told her it's really important to get it right. She answered the other way, which indicated a potential problem. The nurse suggested a solution which made no sense to me, so I politely asked the nurse to get the doctor. The nurse walked over to Mrs. T as though she was going to implement her suggestion. I responded by blocking her way and saying "Perhaps you didn't hear me very clearly. Get a doctor in here, and do it right now." Doc came, solved the problem, and told me that the nurse's solution had about a ten per cent chance of putting Mrs. T in the ICU for a week.

It has nothing to do with a man's duty, which might be the dumbest reason I've ever heard. It has much more to do with the fact that medical mistakes happen all the time, and having a clearheaded decisionmaker in the room is an insurance policy against this happening to you.

I won't say that Deeb should have done things differently. It's his life, and he's a big boy. But that isn't a decision I would have made for that price. In the alternative, I'd have my wife's mom or someone else there that is capable, without exception.

/rant

That is a seriously dumb reason. A much better reason is that birth is sometimes traumatic for either mother or child and a clear head needs to be able to make potentially critical medical decisions.

This happened to me, actually: I was present when daughter number one was born, and Mrs. T had a mild medical problem that could have turned serious. The rurse asked Mrs. T a question, who answered it -- but I could see that she wasn't really tracking the question well, so I jumped in and asked Mrs. T the same question but told her it's really important to get it right. She answered the other way, which indicated a potential problem. The nurse suggested a solution which made no sense to me, so I politely asked the nurse to get the doctor. The nurse walked over to Mrs. T as though she was going to implement her suggestion. I responded by blocking her way and saying "Perhaps you didn't hear me very clearly. Get a doctor in here, and do it right now." Doc came, solved the problem, and told me that the nurse's solution had about a ten per cent chance of putting Mrs. T in the ICU for a week.

It has nothing to do with a man's duty, which might be the dumbest reason I've ever heard. It has much more to do with the fact that medical mistakes happen all the time, and having a clearheaded decisionmaker in the room is an insurance policy against this happening to you.

I won't say that Deeb should have done things differently. It's his life, and he's a big boy. But that isn't a decision I would have made for that price. In the alternative, I'd have my wife's mom or someone else there that is capable, without exception.

/rant