On Reddit, a woman revealed that her husband is refusing to accompany her in the delivery room for the upcoming birth of their first child together simply because he can’t “stomach childbirth.”
“We were talking about the birth the other day and I was explaining how I’m starting to feel a lot more anxious and nervous as the due date approaches. I then said ‘but I feel much better knowing you’d be there with me,'” the expectant mother wrote via Reddit.
She explained that although they never “discussed” him being in the delivery room with her, she always pictured he would be by her side. However, that wasn’t the idea he had in mind.
“He looked at me kinda surprised and said, ‘What? You want me to be there?‘ And I said ‘Well, yeah, of course.’ He hesitated a lot and then proceeded to explain to me that, basically, he doesn’t want to be there,” she continued.
The dad-to-be told her he wouldn’t “be of any use,” as he would just be “freaking out with all the screaming and blood and intensity.” He told her that, ultimately, he’d just “end up” being a burden.
“He suggested that instead of him I take my mother or a friend but I told him that I didn’t make this baby with my mother or my friend and I don’t want them, I want him. He said ‘not everybody can stomach childbirth’ and that ‘seeing you in so much pain and agony would just break me,'” she shared.
The mom-to-be noted she doesn’t want to “force him to be there,” but isn’t sure she will be able to move past the notion that he doesn’t want to be in the delivery room with her.
“It’s made me feel even more anxious and nervous. I got very upset and told him I can’t believe he would refuse. We haven’t really spoken much since,” she concluded.
In the comments section, users rallied behind the woman. Many slammed the man for not wanting to be there for the birth of his child.
“So your husband just told you he’ll be more occupied with himself and his own likes and preferences than with his wife who is trying to push a child out. And from all this, the part I find the most baffling is that you explicitly told him how he’ll be of use by just being there to make your nerves calm,” one person wrote.
“This doesn’t bode well for sickness and diaper changing. He’s selfish,” another commented.
“I’d tell him that if he’s not there for the child’s birth, then he won’t get to be there for the child’s life,” someone else quipped.