37 People Who Work At Maternity Wards Share The Weirdest Thing A Father Has Done

My mother-in-law likes to tell the story of how my father-in-law, a lawyer, was in court arguing a case when she went into labour. This was the 80s, so no cell phones. All she could do was call the courthouse, leave a message with someone, and head to the hospital on her own.

The result was my FIL, an hour or so later, showing up on the maternity ward totally disheveled and still in his formal court attire, having run 15 blocks from the courthouse to the hospital the second he got the message. In my country, attorneys wear black robes, waistcoats, and funny little white tie/collar numbers, so he made quite the sight. But he made it in time for the birth!

My dad worked OB at a Detroit hospital for some time. After witnessing a black husband scream at his black wife for birthing a white baby, my dad made it a habit to tell first-time black fathers that their babies often come out *much* lighter than their parents.

That poor woman.

MoulanRougeFae:
I had a friend who was accused of cheating because her husband wasn't ever told Black babies are born pale. He screamed, threw things at her and threatened to [end] her because he didn't know. He was arrested at the hospital. She stayed with me for 6 months while working on divorcing him. I don't blame her one bit. No apology would ever make up for that especially after giving birth less than an hour previous. I never understood why mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters or friends don't tell Black men when they find out they are going to be dads that Black babies are born pale and get their skin tone a couple days after being born. It seems almost cruel not to tell them.

Our 1st pregnancy was a difficult one so while I worked a freind would stay with my then-wife to help her out. I was working on a phone line while on a ladder in the middle of an intersection when that freind came roaring up saying that she just took the wife, who wasn't due for weeks still, to the hospital. I slid down the ladder, dropped my tools right there in the middle of the intersection, told my groundsman he was on his own and booked it to the hospital. I wasn't going to miss this for the world.

When my 1st grandson was being born (even earlier than his dad! Lol), they wanted us there ASAP to keep my D-i-L's absolute nightmare of a mother out of the delivery room until all was done, and also (due to my EMS background) to help the understand all the medical devices and procedures that were going on.

Any father that doesn't step up and be there for their baby's mom is a punk.

My workmate went with his wife to the hospital while she was in labour.


He almost passed out and was splashing his face with water saying "I can't do this"


His wife called him out, said "you're doing nothing, I'm the one doing this, not you".


He managed to support her through it. .

payvavraishkuf:
My husband had to walk past the c section barrier to get to the heat lamp where they'd taken our son, so he could check the baby, cut the cord, etc.
Later that night he tearfully told me "I thought I wanted two kids but I saw your intestines today and there was so much blood and I was so scared!"

Overheard in an orthopedic OR (both dudes) --

Junior Resident: Oh, my wife just called. She's on her way in to labor & delivery.

Senior Attending: Oh, congratulations! See you later, then.

JR: No, it's her first, it'll take a while. I can do this case.

SA: ...son. As someone who's been divorced, I'm telling you, you need to go. Now. You're not scrubbing this case.

A relative who is a doctor told me this story about his first night on call as a GP.

He gets a 1am call from a man who had been at the pub and returned home to find his pregnant wife in early labour (about 32 weeks). My relative tells the man to phone an ambulance, then gets in the car and races out to the patient.

He arrived at the patient's house to find no ambulance. The father answered the door, looking pale, and says "she's had the baby, Doctor." My relative goes in and quickly ensures the baby is breathing, mum is OK, etc. Then, having discovered that the father hadn't phoned for an ambulance, uses the landline to arrange for an ambulance and a bed in the neonatal ICU. This was before cordless phones and the phone wasn't in the bedroom, so my relative couldn't see the patient.

My relative is on the phone when he hears the father shout, "Doctor! There's something else coming!"

My relative shouts, "That's the placenta, don't worry!"

A couple of minutes later my relative hears a much higher pitched shout:

"Doctor! Is it supposed to move?"

My relative drops the phone and races to the bedroom. It was an unexpected twin born inside the amniotic sac.

After stabilising the second baby, my relative then has to phone back to tell them he needs a second ambulance and *two* NICU beds.

I worked with someone who's partner took her to the labour ward, gave his mobile number to the staff and told them to call when baby was nearly there as he was going to wait in the pub.

He walked out and wasn't allowed back in a few hours later as he was drunk.

Anyway, they are divorced now.

L & D nurse here. My favorite story: I went in to be the second nurse in a delivery. Mom was having her fifth baby. Gender was a surprise, and the couple had four girls already.
As the baby (boy) was delivered and the dad caught a glimpse of the genitals, he grabbed me, started jumping up and down shouting, “it has a WEINER! It has a WEINER!!”.

The sheer amount of men who will bring their entire gaming systems complete with a TV into the labor room so they can game with the boys while their partner births their child.

Cam_Winston2001:
I saw this as a student on OBGYN, could hardly believe what I was seeing! Trying to give discharge instructions to mom and baby, while dad is in the corner screaming into his mic and going nuts on his mechanical keyboard.

I am not maternity staff but after giving birth I developed post-partim pre-eclampsia and needed to stay longer at the hospital. The baby was great and she was allowed to stay with me. My husband wanted to go home to sleep in a comfortable bed. I told him through gritted teeth I could literally die, he doesn't get comfort. I think that really opened his eyes because from then on he has been amazing and supportive.

I was an ER nurse, but to get to L&D you came thru ER. One guy was wanting to watch Monday night football while his wife was in labor. He showed up with a 12 pack of Bud light, a bag of Oreos and a hibachi grill in case he would be here awhile.
Another one was so nervous about watching his wife give birth he passed out cold in the parking lot. One of the security guards found him. He had struck his head on the curb, needed 50 sutures to close a scalp wound and was taken to the L&D waiting room where he fell asleep on a sofa. His wife had no idea where he went to and didn't find him until she was being discharged.
Another guy was a local DJ on a radio station. He was a first time dad and wanted everyone to know about it. He was in the delivery room doing a play by play for all his listeners. His wife finally had enough and started screaming obscenities until he stopped broadcasting.

While my mom was undergoing a c-section (I was feet-first), my dad fainted, hit his head, and had to be seen downstairs in the ER to get stitches. My mother never let him live it down.

We had an expectant father refuse to sit down when the anesthesiologist showed up to do an epidural - one look at that needle and he passed out conking his head bad enough to need stitches. I got to go downstairs to the ED to tell him his baby had been born and he missed it. The nursing staff was nice to his face but they were laughing at that idiot for months after.

Seriously men, accept that you are useless and weak in the face of your partner's awesome life giving power and sit your bum down when the nurse tells you to. You have literally one job and if you can't handle that then I just feel really bad for your kids - I swear these are the guys who turn into the "my wife needs to meal prep and leave pages of detailed instructions in order to go on a two day work trip" 🤮.

"Why are you crying?" to a woman who had a third degree tear having her baby.

My dad said to the doctor and nurses when I was born a girl. "Oh no! Another split-tail. Throw her back!" He thought it was hilarious. How do I know this story? He still brags about it 40 years later because he's an jerk.

I wonder what the people there thought about it.

Not staff, but my baby’s father left mid labor to go “clean the house” (aka cheat on me), came back only when I demanded it because they broke my water…then proceeded to come back drunk and sleep through my entire labor. The nurses woke him up to cut the cord and then he went back to sleep. (He lasted about 3 weeks after baby was born before I kicked him out).

I was the father of a beautiful baby girl. While I was filling out the forms for her birth certificate etc, I casually commented to the nurse that they must see a lot of nervous fathers. She said she has seen guys literally run out of the building, like to run away. I was just like... 😬😬.

omgidontknowbob:
My dad got a speeding ticket ON THE WAY HOME.
Rude.

While having an emergency c section my now ex husband looked over and exclaimed OH WHOA IS THAT HER LIVER?! Then tried to lean in a bit more to see and a nurse promptly and rightfully elbowed him right in the nose.

Not staff but I called my brother to ask how my SIL was doing during her induction and he told me he didn’t know because he went home. Because it could take awhile. He. Went. Home. I was literally like ……”….you left?” My husband took such good care of me during my induction. As a *partner* should. Blew my mind. By the time my niece was born he didn’t want to look because it would be “gross” and then had to sit down because he was going to pass out. My SIL said the fact that the nurses were doting on him and bringing him Gatorade was the motivation/anger she needed to do that last big push.

I’ve never, ever been more disappointed.

moonbrows:
The nurses put my dad in a chair with a blanket and cocodamol because his wisdom teeth hurt as my mother was about to have the epidural, I think it’s quite common. Pretty sure the staff just wanted him sat down, out of the way and not complaining anymore.

My mom told me a story when she worked at the hospital where the mother didn’t know which guy was the dad so the two men showed up. One in a very nice three piece suit and the other guy dressed in a red devil costume, leotard, horns, tail and pitchfork. True story.