Childbirth expert Dr Michel Odent says expectant fathers can often be a hindrance if they attend the birth of their child.

He has even suggested that over-anxious fathers might be responsible for an upsurge in Caesarean sections because they cannot stand to see their partners in pain.

Here Dr Odent, who has helped deliver 15,000 babies, explains his views, while Mary Newburn, head of policy research at The National Childbirth Trust, sets out her position on the issue.

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Dr Michel Odent

"When a woman is in labour, what she needs first is to feel secure and it seems that the baby's father is not always the best possible person to help his wife to feel secure.

"It is because he is a man, because he (has) never had babies and because when something unexpected is happening, he cannot understand.

"For example, if a woman is suddenly vomiting, he is in a panic, whereas if there is a companion who is a mother or a grandmother who had many children, she knows that she had the same story when she was giving birth.

"So often a woman feels more secure with an experienced mother or grandmother.

"Of course we know it is not simple. There are so many sorts of men.

"Some of them can keep a low profile, but others behave like observers or they want to guide or they want to reassure with words.

'Will understand'

"At the very time when the women needs to cut off the intellect they (the men) want to be logical.

"An experienced mother or grandmother will understand what is happening because she went through this experience.

"If (men being present makes) the birth more difficult or longer it means that indirectly this can be a way to explain one of the factors which can explain the increasing rate of Caesarean sections.

"There are other factor that have been documented.

"It is difficult to say but the question is what do to make the birth as easy as possible."

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Mary Newburn, head of policy research at The National Childbirth Trust

"It is important that women and their partners discuss what is right for them.

"In the 60s, when there was the move from home births to hospital, women going into hospital could feel isolated and vulnerable in a strange place.

"So having their partner with them was really important.

"The men who have been to our ante-natal classes do not want to be excluded from the birth, which is a special time and also a challenging time.

"It has become de rigeur for men to be present at the birth.

"We do now recognise that for both the women and the man it is not always helpful to feel that the only useful person present at the birth is the partner.

"Some women may want their mother, a sister or a friend to be present.

"In some countries, there are trained women who have had children themselves who attend births, people who will not be as distressed by the sight of the woman being in pain as a partner may be.

"It can be difficult for men to know how to support their partner.

"But if partners were not present we would need many more midwives.

"Undoubtedly it has moved to the position where if men stopped being with their partners during childbirth, there would be a real problem because there would not be enough midwives to provide the support which women should be able to expect.

'Odd ways'

"I am prepared to accept that some men may be kind but also a hindrance, but it would be a mistake to believe that all men will be a hindrance during labour.

"Anxiety can make people behave in odd ways and that is not helpful.

"(The suggestion that men being present at childbirth has caused the increase in the number of caesarean sections) is interesting, but there is no evidence to show whether it is the case or not.

"It would need to be more carefully investigated, with more research.

"But in a nutshell, women in childbirth need support and men have become the major support of women in labour."