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A Guy's Labor and Delivery Survival Guide

A Guy's Labor and Delivery Survival Guide

A veteran dad shares the secrets to surviving the birth of your child.
By Ben Brashares


The soon-to-be mother of your child is in pain. She's sweating, moaning, squeezing your hand harder than you can believe possible. You're doing your best -- telling her that she's doing great, that you're proud of her -- but it's not working. She's still miserable. And to make matters worse, she's not being very nice to you. No "please"s, no "thank you"s. At times it almost seems like she's mad at you. For what? You're trying!
If there's one road not to go down while helping your partner through labor, the sensitive, insecure one would be it. For 12 hours (or however long it takes), it will be all about her. You will feel unwanted. You need to be there but you don't matter. She pushes; you suck it up. That's how it goes. That's probably the clearest it gets for a dad trying to find his role in the birthing of his child. And that evolutionarily advantageous ability a mom has to forget the pain of childbirth so she'll do it again? You don't get that. For better and for worse, you will remember every little peak and valley in vivid detail (and you will try your very best to forget some of the "peaks.")
Read the full article here. 

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