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People Are Sharing Funny Stories Of How The Delivery Room Experience Was Too Much For New Dads
The days of proud dads waiting in the corridor next to the delivery room, handing out cigars while their wives go into labor, are long gone. Now, you’ll often find dads in the front lines, next to the loves of their lives as they’re about to bring a miracle into the world. They’ll be holding their partners’ hands, saying words of encouragement, and doing everything they can to make giving birth easier.
However, not all dads have the stomach for it. Watching someone give birth can be intense and can make some of them faint and react very strongly in other ways. There’s no shame in that. However, the moms of Twitter had a blast sharing some of the funniest stories about what happened to their beloved men in the delivery room. And the person who kicked off the viral thread is Twitter user theMidwife, the curator of ‘Your Lady Biz.’
Have a read through some of the most lighthearted and wittiest stories below, upvote the ones that you liked the most, and share your own tales from the delivery room if you’re feeling up to it, dear Pandas.
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It’s easy to get panicky and a bit lost about what to do in the delivery room. So if you’re a dad, you really shouldn’t be too hard on yourself if it’s your first time there—how can you know what’s expected of you? It’s best to ask the doctor or the nurse what you can do to help. And to be fair, we have to acknowledge the fact that there's a lot of pressure on dads to be in the delivery room in the first place.
But the most important thing is that you talk to your loved one and ask what she wants and needs. It might be something as simple as getting her a cup full of ice chips or singing her favorite childhood song to help her calm down and give her strength.
HealthDay writes that you can prepare for the day of your child’s birth beforehand by going to birthing classes beforehand. What’s more, you can talk to some other dads about the experiences that they had and they’re bound to give you some pointers. After all, live advice is the perfect complement to you having read tons and tons of books on the subject. (You’ve read them all, haven’t you?)
According to HealthDay, dads are usually a mix of unofficial nurses, coaches, and cheerleaders in the delivery room. So at the very start, in the early hours of labor, your task will be to distract your loved one from dreading the next contraction. Walking around the room with her, putting on some music, or giving her a back/foot rub are all things that you can do to make things easier on her.
It's Ryan Reynolds. He's kidding! Edited to add: if you don't know who Ryan Reynolds is, he's an actor, known for his comedy. He and his wife routinely roast each other on Twitter. He also has a fake feud with Hugh Jackman, which is all comedy as well.
However, as the contractions get stronger and more frequent, your main job becomes keeping your partner focused. Look into her eyes. Encourage her. Help her avoid panicking and getting anxious. Keep in mind that you _might_ get screamed at to be quiet by this point. Don’t take it personally because your wife’s bringing a human being into the world and it’s tough work!
At the actual moment of birth, you, the dad, should do your best to stay calm and continue supporting the love of your life. Save your tears for later. And if you’re feeling brave, you can watch a bit of the actual birth, too.
Aww I want someone whos able to make me laugh during a contration lol
Dads tend to cry once their kid is born. Their next impulse tends to be grabbing the camera. After taking a few snaps for the ages, put the camera down and go take your baby in your arms. Check in on your partner when your baby’s taken to the nursery and keep both company as much as you can. Then, it’s time for a round of calls to your family and friends. Just remember that if you do faint or do something unintentionally comic, it’ll still be a great memory for later.
Code: As in cardiac arrest, bring the crash cart, ER moment from TV/film. Call: A bell that annoys a nurse. ---- nuse's daughter/MD
To be fair, the needle is like 18 inches long, and they basically throw it at you like a lawn dart.
Drink the ginger ale, eat the crackers, and thank the nurses. A lot. (Hint from a nurse's daughter.)
Omg ! My daughter had her son at 27 weeks. She literally farted him out because he was so small. At first she was just laying in bed in labor , and she accidentally farted rather loudly . I was biting my cheek trying so hard to be mature. Then I saw my husband silent laughing out of the corner of my eye. I lost it. I ran into the bathroom in the room and fell over from laughing so hard. My daughter yelled "I can hear you ". When it was time to push She pushed once and the doctor said "ok hold on. Now just give a little cough". She coughed and farted at the same time and out came my tiny grandson.We like to keep it classy
If he almost passed out due to low blood sugar I'd say that was justified.
Note: this post originally had 32 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
Women in labor are superwomen. A co-worker saw a woman in labor get out of cab, get a contraction, bend and take two handfuls of bark off an oak tree. I was in doubt until I saw my own wife during a contraction, bend and grab a steel gurney, pick all four wheels 6 inches, and slam it down. The attending resident backed up.
I finished my Christmas shopping while in labor. I'd been in labor for hours and it was going really slowly, so I didn't see a reason to rush to the hospital. Anyway, I worried a lot of strangers.
Load More Replies...My husband doesn't get grossed out easily. I went into labor because I caught a stomach bug and was vomiting . As soon as my son came out , my husband ran to the bathroom and threw up. The nurses thought it was hilarious. They thought he was grossed out. Nope he caught the bug. He came out and said "I've been trying not to throw up on you for the past 15 minutes". During my first labor, I sat up to get an epidural and my husband was in front of me holding on to me. My water broke and filled up his shoes. I laughed so hard. He totally didn't care .
My son took ten hours to be born, I've spent the time with my wife, she held my hand, her fingernails left almost scars on my skin, so I took care to cut her nails at the second birth, daughter was born in 45 minutes :-)
so it's the fingernails!!! Had I known this before my 8 hours of constant every 1-2 minutes contractions
Load More Replies...remember for my first son we were at the hospital at 7am and it was not until 7am the day after that he was born. i didn't want to sleep the first night because i wanna keep a eye on her. so i didn't sleep the day after that the the first night our baby didn't want to sleep only crying so i took him and let my wife try to get a sleep but i was so sleepy i couldn't keep the baby in my arm without falliing asleep. it was not until late in the afternoon i could get a few hours to sleep
I was in the delivery waiting room with two other expectant dads. Suddenly there is a huge commotion in the hall as the elevator opens. We hear a gurney being rushed down the hallway and a woman obviously very close to giving birth. The father-to-be charges into the waiting room and desperately tries to get out of his coat and into the protective gown, booties etc. He is hopping on one leg and a nurse is yelling from down the hall for him to hurry up. He is really trying but the more he tries the worse his panic gets and the less able he is to get suited up. It was almost like something out of an old slapstick movie. Another call to "hurry it" from down the hall. He finally has one bootie on and the gown when the nurse yells "Never mind, it's a girl". We probably should have tried to help but it was such a sight to witness and happened so quick that we barely got past the WTF? stage.
Why DO you have to put those stupid things on tough? Not for a normal birth at least. The women, midwives and Doctors don't wear them, so why should the husbands? My husband only had to put some on, when they decided to do a c-section with my second child. For my first and third he wore normal clothes. As did I by the way.
Load More Replies...My brother was trying SO hard to comfort his wife. She liked the cool cloth on her face, til she didn't. She looked up and said " you touch me one more time with that washcloth and I'll shove it up your nose". He raised his hand and backed up a step and said 'ok'. I feel for the spouses, there's so little they can do to aid the gal in pain. My hero was the rock to get me back on track when I either paniced or loss focus.
You feel for them??? She is the one doing all the work
Load More Replies...Just three or four decades back it was normal for the husband to visit wife and baby at the hospital instead of being there. I think it is a wonderful development that for many couples it is not normal that the man can support the women during labour. While she undoubtedly has to do the labour and experience the pain, the whole experience is straining for him as well – physically, but especially emotionally. Having a weak moment because the man is empathic with his wife is a strength, not a weakness. Great if both parents can share the moment of the new arrival!
I did only two weeks OB/GYN rotation as a medical doctor intern, and what I saw was not "work". Women DIE during childbirth. It isn't "work", qith quotation marks. it's life-giving at the risk of one's own life. And, yes, even in the 21st century, in the First World, women die. Aneurysms, strokes, complications of a dozen kinds, with frequent nonlethal post-birth complications for LIFE that do not affect the men: Urinary/bowel incontinence being among the most benign. Please, do not call it "work" in quotes. That diminishes any point you made about men having empathy.
Load More Replies...I was born before it was common to have men in the room, which is just as well. That said, saw in training (medical school) a woman in birth whose husband said something like, "Stop crying so much, it's almost done!" He was wearing baggy shorts. She nailed him where.... Well, I don't know if they had more kids, but I doubt it.
Here's a marathon labor story that happened to me in October 2020... I was having contractions and didn't even realize it, I thought the baby was just moving his feet back and forth. At my weekly OB appointment that morning, my blood pressure sky rocketed so I was admitted (thankfully it wasn't preeclampsia). Ended up being in labor for 54 hours - they tried pitocin, then cytotec, then foley bulb, finally resorted to c-section. But due to scoliosis with a spinal fusion and a total right hip replacement, the epidural only worked on one side of my body. I ended up being totally put to sleep to deliver. My amazing husband stayed by my side the entire 54 hours, and i woke up from general anesthesia to see him feeding our newborn son 💕
Feeding him? How long had they to wait for you? My son was a c-section too and they had to put me under at the end because I was panicking (I lost a child before). My son was around 30 minutes old when I woke up and could give him breastmilk.
Load More Replies...My wife and I have two boys. Unfortunately both had to be born by C-section. We found out later from the her ob-gyn that due to how her body and uterus was shaped, it would always have to be that way. BTW, I did they did allow me in one corner of the operating room and I did get to hold my boys for a few moments before them being taken to the nursery. A few years after the second was born, we decided that two was enough. She offered to get her tubes tied and I told her she had had enough surgeries, that it was my turn to step up and I got a vasectomy. We celebrated 43 years of marriage this year.
Pathetic. Men are so entitled. their role is so small here and they can't even do their part. I have been reading these stories for years and they're not funny.
I'm a woman and I wouldn't be able to handle watching someone else give birth. Some people just can't handle it. That's not their fault.
Load More Replies...My hubby didn't pass out but stopped using the phrase "I'll rip him a new asshole" when the episiotomy wasn't enough, as the doc said " I didn't know you were having a football player in FULL GEAR. A big boy, he was.
Load More Replies...You know.... it seams odd to me that so many (US) men pass out during delivery. I am wondering if that has something to do with the insufficient sex ed in schools and parents not talking with their kids about such things.
Just being knowledgeable on a subject doesn’t mean you’re exempt from feeling squeamish when you see it in real life.
Load More Replies...Call me old-fashioned or heartless but I'd never want father of my (hypothetical) baby to be with me in the labor room. While I trust my partner and he had seen me in many states, I cannot imagine having a normal sex life after this kind of experience - not because I'd be afraid of his reaction or that he wouldn't find me attractive anymore - that wouldn't be the case. More like - I know labor is bloody, sweaty and generally not-so-cute thing and I'd rather nobody see me in this state. I believe there are situations such as medical procedures (which labor is for me) when only you and medical professional should attend. You don't take your important ones with you to operation room or to dentist - why should labor be different? (I mean, I get it that many women needs and craves emotional support, I just don't find this idea attractive to me.)
There is not enough staff to support you for, say 20 minutes of a 'bump in the road' and there are 4 more hours till the birth. He knows you the best, he can aid in moments that could be overwhelming for ya. There are some nurses that don't put up with 'things' that happen. So if short staffed on a day, a nurse from another floor comes in to cover Maternity and has no 'skills' to said department, better the baby's father than a not-so-understanding nurse. I had that experience. Not that I complained myself, but some others must have, for she was gone and when asked why I 'now' had this new nurse and got a baffling reply that I some how figured out she was removed from the area.(was my 3rd child, so knew a good nurse vs. a poor one)
Load More Replies...Men are like, "This cold will make me perish because of how terrible it is," and women go into birth and are like, "Okay I am prepared to do this as long as I have to to push out this little creature that I have to deal with for at least 18 years."
I'd like to say my husband passed out or did something stupid, but he was an an EMT and needed 2 hands to count how many babies he delivered. Not only that, he also was a surgical technician so they allowed him in while I was having a C-Section. Nothing phased him. When they took our son out, he leaned over and told the doctor "That's a 10 !!" (Apgar score) and the doctor did as he was told. True story....
Women in labor are superwomen. A co-worker saw a woman in labor get out of cab, get a contraction, bend and take two handfuls of bark off an oak tree. I was in doubt until I saw my own wife during a contraction, bend and grab a steel gurney, pick all four wheels 6 inches, and slam it down. The attending resident backed up.
I finished my Christmas shopping while in labor. I'd been in labor for hours and it was going really slowly, so I didn't see a reason to rush to the hospital. Anyway, I worried a lot of strangers.
Load More Replies...My husband doesn't get grossed out easily. I went into labor because I caught a stomach bug and was vomiting . As soon as my son came out , my husband ran to the bathroom and threw up. The nurses thought it was hilarious. They thought he was grossed out. Nope he caught the bug. He came out and said "I've been trying not to throw up on you for the past 15 minutes". During my first labor, I sat up to get an epidural and my husband was in front of me holding on to me. My water broke and filled up his shoes. I laughed so hard. He totally didn't care .
My son took ten hours to be born, I've spent the time with my wife, she held my hand, her fingernails left almost scars on my skin, so I took care to cut her nails at the second birth, daughter was born in 45 minutes :-)
so it's the fingernails!!! Had I known this before my 8 hours of constant every 1-2 minutes contractions
Load More Replies...remember for my first son we were at the hospital at 7am and it was not until 7am the day after that he was born. i didn't want to sleep the first night because i wanna keep a eye on her. so i didn't sleep the day after that the the first night our baby didn't want to sleep only crying so i took him and let my wife try to get a sleep but i was so sleepy i couldn't keep the baby in my arm without falliing asleep. it was not until late in the afternoon i could get a few hours to sleep
I was in the delivery waiting room with two other expectant dads. Suddenly there is a huge commotion in the hall as the elevator opens. We hear a gurney being rushed down the hallway and a woman obviously very close to giving birth. The father-to-be charges into the waiting room and desperately tries to get out of his coat and into the protective gown, booties etc. He is hopping on one leg and a nurse is yelling from down the hall for him to hurry up. He is really trying but the more he tries the worse his panic gets and the less able he is to get suited up. It was almost like something out of an old slapstick movie. Another call to "hurry it" from down the hall. He finally has one bootie on and the gown when the nurse yells "Never mind, it's a girl". We probably should have tried to help but it was such a sight to witness and happened so quick that we barely got past the WTF? stage.
Why DO you have to put those stupid things on tough? Not for a normal birth at least. The women, midwives and Doctors don't wear them, so why should the husbands? My husband only had to put some on, when they decided to do a c-section with my second child. For my first and third he wore normal clothes. As did I by the way.
Load More Replies...My brother was trying SO hard to comfort his wife. She liked the cool cloth on her face, til she didn't. She looked up and said " you touch me one more time with that washcloth and I'll shove it up your nose". He raised his hand and backed up a step and said 'ok'. I feel for the spouses, there's so little they can do to aid the gal in pain. My hero was the rock to get me back on track when I either paniced or loss focus.
You feel for them??? She is the one doing all the work
Load More Replies...Just three or four decades back it was normal for the husband to visit wife and baby at the hospital instead of being there. I think it is a wonderful development that for many couples it is not normal that the man can support the women during labour. While she undoubtedly has to do the labour and experience the pain, the whole experience is straining for him as well – physically, but especially emotionally. Having a weak moment because the man is empathic with his wife is a strength, not a weakness. Great if both parents can share the moment of the new arrival!
I did only two weeks OB/GYN rotation as a medical doctor intern, and what I saw was not "work". Women DIE during childbirth. It isn't "work", qith quotation marks. it's life-giving at the risk of one's own life. And, yes, even in the 21st century, in the First World, women die. Aneurysms, strokes, complications of a dozen kinds, with frequent nonlethal post-birth complications for LIFE that do not affect the men: Urinary/bowel incontinence being among the most benign. Please, do not call it "work" in quotes. That diminishes any point you made about men having empathy.
Load More Replies...I was born before it was common to have men in the room, which is just as well. That said, saw in training (medical school) a woman in birth whose husband said something like, "Stop crying so much, it's almost done!" He was wearing baggy shorts. She nailed him where.... Well, I don't know if they had more kids, but I doubt it.
Here's a marathon labor story that happened to me in October 2020... I was having contractions and didn't even realize it, I thought the baby was just moving his feet back and forth. At my weekly OB appointment that morning, my blood pressure sky rocketed so I was admitted (thankfully it wasn't preeclampsia). Ended up being in labor for 54 hours - they tried pitocin, then cytotec, then foley bulb, finally resorted to c-section. But due to scoliosis with a spinal fusion and a total right hip replacement, the epidural only worked on one side of my body. I ended up being totally put to sleep to deliver. My amazing husband stayed by my side the entire 54 hours, and i woke up from general anesthesia to see him feeding our newborn son 💕
Feeding him? How long had they to wait for you? My son was a c-section too and they had to put me under at the end because I was panicking (I lost a child before). My son was around 30 minutes old when I woke up and could give him breastmilk.
Load More Replies...My wife and I have two boys. Unfortunately both had to be born by C-section. We found out later from the her ob-gyn that due to how her body and uterus was shaped, it would always have to be that way. BTW, I did they did allow me in one corner of the operating room and I did get to hold my boys for a few moments before them being taken to the nursery. A few years after the second was born, we decided that two was enough. She offered to get her tubes tied and I told her she had had enough surgeries, that it was my turn to step up and I got a vasectomy. We celebrated 43 years of marriage this year.
Pathetic. Men are so entitled. their role is so small here and they can't even do their part. I have been reading these stories for years and they're not funny.
I'm a woman and I wouldn't be able to handle watching someone else give birth. Some people just can't handle it. That's not their fault.
Load More Replies...My hubby didn't pass out but stopped using the phrase "I'll rip him a new asshole" when the episiotomy wasn't enough, as the doc said " I didn't know you were having a football player in FULL GEAR. A big boy, he was.
Load More Replies...You know.... it seams odd to me that so many (US) men pass out during delivery. I am wondering if that has something to do with the insufficient sex ed in schools and parents not talking with their kids about such things.
Just being knowledgeable on a subject doesn’t mean you’re exempt from feeling squeamish when you see it in real life.
Load More Replies...Call me old-fashioned or heartless but I'd never want father of my (hypothetical) baby to be with me in the labor room. While I trust my partner and he had seen me in many states, I cannot imagine having a normal sex life after this kind of experience - not because I'd be afraid of his reaction or that he wouldn't find me attractive anymore - that wouldn't be the case. More like - I know labor is bloody, sweaty and generally not-so-cute thing and I'd rather nobody see me in this state. I believe there are situations such as medical procedures (which labor is for me) when only you and medical professional should attend. You don't take your important ones with you to operation room or to dentist - why should labor be different? (I mean, I get it that many women needs and craves emotional support, I just don't find this idea attractive to me.)
There is not enough staff to support you for, say 20 minutes of a 'bump in the road' and there are 4 more hours till the birth. He knows you the best, he can aid in moments that could be overwhelming for ya. There are some nurses that don't put up with 'things' that happen. So if short staffed on a day, a nurse from another floor comes in to cover Maternity and has no 'skills' to said department, better the baby's father than a not-so-understanding nurse. I had that experience. Not that I complained myself, but some others must have, for she was gone and when asked why I 'now' had this new nurse and got a baffling reply that I some how figured out she was removed from the area.(was my 3rd child, so knew a good nurse vs. a poor one)
Load More Replies...Men are like, "This cold will make me perish because of how terrible it is," and women go into birth and are like, "Okay I am prepared to do this as long as I have to to push out this little creature that I have to deal with for at least 18 years."
I'd like to say my husband passed out or did something stupid, but he was an an EMT and needed 2 hands to count how many babies he delivered. Not only that, he also was a surgical technician so they allowed him in while I was having a C-Section. Nothing phased him. When they took our son out, he leaned over and told the doctor "That's a 10 !!" (Apgar score) and the doctor did as he was told. True story....