15 fathers share their experiences of being in the delivery room with their wives

Childbirth narratives mostly focus on what a mother experiences in the delivery room and rightfully so because they are the ones going through labor. However, we often miss out on the experiences of the fathers in the delivery room. Soon-to-fathers also go through many emotional highs and lows as they get ready to welcome a child into the world. Reddit user, Sakuramochi_Chan, wanted to change this and hear what several fathers have experienced in the delivery room. They asked, "Men who were there with their partners in the delivery room, what was the experience like?" Several fathers responded and gave a detailed account of their personal accounts of childbirth. 

Here are 15 of these responses, which range from terrifying to heartwarming:

1. Near-death experience

Some childbirths can prove to be extremely traumatic and scary for the mother. Reddit user, Daytonaman675, shared, "Wife almost bled out - she kept telling me to make sure my daughter was ok and all I could think about was I may only have another minute with my wife." 

2. The first piss

Reddit user u/Lazarus_Steel, commented, "Today is my firstborn's birthday, 29 years ago today. I still remember that I grabbed him, I held him and I cut his cord, he pissed on me. I thought, "Now I'm a dad..... I have to be better now."

3. The same birthday

"My firstborn was born on my birthday. My main memory is my exhausted wife turning to me after the baby was born and saying, 'Next year, you get an ice cream cake,'" shared another user u/knockatize.

4. They almost died

Reddit user u/RocksteadyBetty did not have a great experience in the delivery room as he shared, "My wife and daughter almost died. Major shoulder dystocia. Code pink. Violent emergency c-section. Witnessed the successful resuscitation of my daughter. Mom needed 4 unit transfusion. I’m a paramedic and this still majorly f****d me up." 

5. Horrifying and miraculous

u/AngryWombat78 on Reddit wrote, "It was simultaneously horrifying and miraculous. The pain she went through and the amount of blood and amniotic fluid that was pushed out of her … it was astounding. That this tiny little human came out whole and was ours. Was someone we created. And now we are responsible for trying to help him become a decent human."

6. 26 hours in labor

One Reddit user, u/userojthejuice, relayed his experience when his wife was in labor for 26 hours. He wrote, "Two hours of my wife just pushing (while in agonizing pain) to get the baby out. I was a whole mess from hour 12 and on. So, I was basically miserable for the last 14 hours. I wasn’t mentally prepared. I thought the whole thing could take 24 hours but I was never ready to go there mentally. As soon as I saw him come out and he started crying, I erupted into tears like a baby myself. Most emotional moment of my entire existence. It was magical and I’m just glad I didn’t pass out before I could witness his birth."

7. Tears of Happiness

"First and only time I cried out of happiness. And its burned into my memory which doesn't happen very often," wrote Reddit user, u/BBQ-Dog. 

8. Held her hand

Reddit user, u/WearsFuzzySlipper, shared, "There was a curtain so we couldn’t see. I held her hand and I gazed into her eyes and told her that she was doing great and just how much I loved her. She was all sweaty and honestly really beautiful. It was one of the best days of my life." He added, "Later on that night my son was rushed to the NICU because he stopped breathing and that was consequently the scariest day of my life. He is fine now, but that experience was just the worst."

9. Whole family in the delivery room

u/freekvd wrote in the comments, "We were all in the delivery room: my wife, her sister, her mom, my mom, my grandma, myself and the nurse. At one point, my wife exclaimed: 'Enough! Everyone out!' I saw to it that everyone left the room (her mom didn't want to at first), and wanted to be the last one out, to which I received a quick 'Not you, you idiot! I never felt so wanted."

10. A range of emotions

Reddit user u/pikeben08 shared, "During the actual birth, especially with your first child, you experience almost every emotion simultaneously. Joy for the new addition, fear/worry that something will go wrong, pride for how amazing my wife is, helplessness for not being able to really help my wife more than say encouraging words or holding a leg. It's emotionally exhausting, all while on very little sleep."

11. Helped deliver the baby

Another Reddit-user Dad had a unique experience when the nurses left while his wife was in labor. He shared, "She started contracting again so I told her friend to grab one leg and I grabbed the other — and told her to push like the nurses did. The nurses came back and didn't interfere and I ended up helping her deliver our daughter."

12. White as a ghost

Reddit user u/redpillbob69 commented, "I was white as a ghost and scared for the first one. You would have thought I was holding an alien. Nothing prepares you for that. The second was more relaxed. I watched football on the tv, and she pushed me away and asked for her mom." He added, " I tried to help, but didn't get to do the ice chips and holding her hand. I cut the cord. The first one to hold him. Both were amazing and memorable. I wouldn't change a thing."

13. Nearly passed out

"My wife had a scheduled C-section. I sat by her head with a curtain blocking the view of her abdomen. The nurse told me to stand up and look to see my son being born," Reddit user u/MaterialCarrot said. "I stood up in time to see my wife split open like fish and a nurse dragging my blue son out of her belly. Could see some of her internal organs as well. Nearly passed out, sat down heavily back on my stool, and did not look again."

14. A special bond is formed

Reddit user u/StarsandStripes702 shared, "Probably one of the most important and memorable days of my life. When the baby came out I was overcome with emotion and the bond formed between my wife and I through the experience is something that I don’t think could be achieved in any other way."

15. Bob's Burgers

User, u/MyWifeRules described the experience through a quote from Louise from "Bob's Burgers", "It was like an angry softball pushing its way out of a coin purse."