Expectant fathers ignoring midwives’ advice to stay at home

Mary Nolan, professor of perinatal education at the University of Worcester, says research shows that women are more likely to need interventions - forceps or an epidural - if admitted too soon.

She said: “It’s also possible that women are anxious in hospital - it’s a bit of a frightening environment - and increased adrenalin makes it more likely that things might go wrong, that labour might run into difficulties.”

“But that holds no water where nervous fathers-to-be are concerned and women are understandably very influenced by the people who are around them at the time - their partners and sometimes mum or mum-in-law”.

However, she notes that the stay-at-home advice “might be because hospitals need the beds. That’s not a criticism of NHS staff, it’s just the way our hard-pressed hospitals work”.

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