Should a father be in the delivery room? Here are some pros and cons

A plethora of studies have been conducted on the value or otherwise of fathers being present during delivery.

A number of Chinese traditions persist around pregnancy and delivery. There is the practice of “sitting the month” – a centuries-old custom that prohibits new mothers from eating certain foods or leaving the house. Another ritual permitted a father’s involvement in a baby’s first bath but excluded him from being present during labour.

And – as unfashionable as the notion is now – there is the banning of fathers from labour wards.