This article has garnered quite a lot of attention lately. In it, French obstetrician and natural birth and midwifery advocate Michel Odent purportedly claims that the father's presence in the delivery room is detrimental to the birth process. His comments seem quite incendiary and have a lot of natural birth advocates up in arms. Home birth adversaries have latched onto the article in an attempt to discredit Odent has being a stodgy traditionalist with sexual issues and anxieties.
Odent's comments in this article are very bold - too bold, in fact. It is important to note that this article, published in a sensationalist UK newspaper, does not accurately reflect Odent's opinion on the subject. Although the author did speak with Odent during the writing of the piece, the quotes are not directly attributable to Odent himself. In fact, Odent has responded to queries about his comments by email:
About the pages in Daily Mail, first I was not the author of the article. It was written by a journalist after an interview on the phone. Also it is probable that people just read the sensational title. In fact I have never said that men 'should not be at the birth of their child'.
Warmest regards
Michel
As a fan and student of Michel Odent for many years I am familiar with his theories on the effect of the father's presence at birth. His thoughts on the matter were published in a 1999 Midwifery Today Article, "Is the Participation of the Father at Birth Dangerous? It is important for critics and supporters alike to actually understand Odent's position before taking up sides with or against him.
