Is it appropriate for children to observe labor and childbirth?
Absolutely…as long as you’re comfortable in their presence. I have worked with many children in both home and hospital births, and have never once found them to be uncomfortable or scared. In fact, children appear more comfortable than most grown-ups, and this may be due to being closer in time to their own birth journey, more so than you or I, or intimate partners. Their psyches remember what we have forgotten. To children, birth is nothing more than a natural occurrence, which is what I remind the grown-ups in my classes and trainings. As Assistants, their helping hands can be immeasurable – their purity can be an asset to a birthing room. I have found children to be enthusiastic, curious, calm and highly respectful of what is going on around them, though the younger ones may get bored and leave the room at various times. The youngest child, content at my side, was a boy of four.
