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Father Has No Right To Witness Birth Of His Child

By Amy E. Feldman

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Can a pregnant woman ban the father of their soon-to-be-born child from the delivery room?

In the 1950s, the father's role during labor and delivery of his child was to pace the hallway and hand out cigars when the doctor came out to tell him he'd had a kid. One hopes that both fatherhood and smoking cessation have improved since then. It is now expected that the parents will be in the delivery room - but does a mother have the right to dictate if she doesn't want the child's father there?

A man in New Jersey, whose engagement to his pregnant fiancé has been called off, filed a motion with the court to require the mother to notify him when she went into labor and to require that he be allowed into the delivery room for the birth. The mother strongly objected. The Judge in the case just ruled against the father, saying both that his presence in the delivery room would violate her right to privacy and would cause stress on the mother during the birth.

What do you think?

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