What are people's point of view on this :-

Do you think your husband, partner, boyfriend has a say in what type of child birth you go for?
Or is it completely your choice?

Thanks

In my opinion, the husband/boyfriend/partner/whatever has no say in which way you will give birth. The baby is coming out of the woman's body, the woman is the one feeling all the pain, therefore I believe it is entirely up to the woman to decide which way she wants to give birth.

I agree

What do others think?

If the tables were turned and he was giving birth id say the hospital would run out of drugs!

Some men like the idea of natural childbirth,but,a lot find seeing their partner in pain hard to manage,his role is to get you ice,rub your back and keep you happy while your in labour and give birth..

If he can keep his head,he can give himself a big pat on the back when its over..

And you can relax,have a cup of tea,and look at him in wonder as he tells everyone how well he coped!

Haha so true... LOL

Yes in fact mine does too.. natural child birth..

It scares me abit and once said id opt for a c-section and he wasn't too impressed, and said the after pains are so bad - I would barely be able to look after child.. which is true

However I still think its my decission to make

If you can at all,and all things considered,you will recover much faster after a vaginal birth.. sometimes in labour the best laid plans go out the window and your safety and the baby's safety are the most important..

The drugs are there to help you cope,you may not need them,having some sort of labour plan is good,but as I said sometimes the baby takes that decision away.

My opinion is that it's the woman that has to go through it, so it would be your choice not there's just gently remind the partner that it is u that has to go through it.

Woman's body, woman's decision.

If he was having a vasectomy I wouldn't dream of telling him which procedure to get, it's his body, his decision.

When I was pregnant my husband didn't say one word about my birth plan. When we got to the hospital with my first I thought I had plenty of time to decide whether I was going to get an epidural. As it turns out, I had a very quick first labor and by the time I was in unbearable pain it was too late for the epidural.

I ended up having natural child birth with both of my kids and it really wasn't that bad.

Still, the choice is yours, some women tolerate pain better then others.

We ask the woman what HER labor plan is.

I had a patient recently who's significant other kept insisting that HE was the man of the house and she would have the labor HE planned. Much to his surprise I told him that he was in MY house and his wife would get whatever makes her happy. I require all of my patients to sign the epidural consent form upon admission to my unit. If she decides she does not want the epidural she doesn't have to get it. But once pain meds are given the patient is deemed incompetent to make medical decisions, so these consents are signed before I give any pain meds. (they really mess with your head. LOL).

I will not let a family member coerce my patient into doing something my patient is not comfortable with.

My husband believes the epidural is dangerous and can leave you paralized

Your husband is ill informed. It's not dangerous, will not leave you paralyzed and is a wonderful pain reliever.

I assist with epidurals several times a day when I work... I've never seen anyone get paralyzed.

Im sure once we start attending the antenatal classes at hospital he will be properly informed as I intend to have it for sure

What are its dangers then? If it has any?

The worst I have seen is called a spinal headache. That's when a little bit of the spinal fluid leaks out (wet tap). This usually happens about 24 hours after birth and is the worst headaches you have ever experienced. However it is easily fixed with something called a blood patch. They just patch up the "hole" where the fluid leaked out and relief is instantaneous.

Of all of the epidurals I have assisted with, I have only seen a spinal headache twice.