Childbirth: "a disgusting moment"

[bojo7]

Cannot see this anywhere else.

Footballer Jeremy Doku plans to leave his Belgium team mates to be at the birth of his first child.

From BBC website:
However, Doku's plan to leave the USA and return home has brought fierce criticism from L'Equipe channel presenter France Pierron, who labelled a father "completely useless" at the time of their child's birth.
"The World Cup is an incredible joy," she said in a message posted to the Facebook page of French sports publication L'Equipe.
"There are hundreds of footballers who would kill to be in your shoes. It might never happen again in your life.
"You're living out a childhood dream, yet you're going to walk away from it all to attend the birth of your child - a disgusting moment, if you'll pardon the expression, where the dad is completely useless."

Calling it a disgusting moment is absolutely dreadful - and false - but I cannot get worked up about whether a footballer attends his partner’s delivery.

I’m not even a football fan but I think I’d be encouraging him to do that first.

Whilst the support of dh would be invaluable, there are other people in my life who would do almost as good a job there. The World Cup would be the highlight of his career.

I would argue he’s the very opposite of a useless father and is in fact shaping up to be a lovely supportive one already. What a guy, I wish him every joy.

My husband was supportive, kind and caring during the delivery. He turned up at the hospital (I’d been kept in for obs) in a thick jumper because it was cold outside at 3am but obviously in the hospital it was boiling and it was several hours in a hot room. But he never moaned or showed any discomfort just focused on supporting me.
I haven’t read about this footballer but would he have been better to decline if he knew couldn’t attend all the matches.

The World Cup might be the highlight of his career, but his wife and child may be the highlight of his life.

They've made the decision, his team supports him.

As Thomas Frank said

"Football is the most important of not important things - so it is not important at a time like this,"

This is World Cup. Of course he should be playing and the wife will manage just fine with the right support from other family members. Unless of course she has noone else at all.
It is his choice however, just not the one I would encourage my own DH to make in similar circumstances

She’s been suspended now for her stupidity.

To be fair, the childbirth process isn't normally the cleanest or more peaceful of events, but the end result is so utterly wonderful and fabulous that it really doesn't matter

That child is going to feel as special AF that his dad left the world cup to be there for him at the start of his life

Nice to see a husband with his priorities straight. What other’s think is irrelevant.

My friend’s partner left her in hospital in labour with their first as there was “nothing for him to do” and went drinking with his mates.

I would put the birth of my first child above the world cup too.

I also don’t get the “nothing for me to do”. Emotional support is something.

That child is going to feel as special AF that his dad left the world cup to be there for him at the start of his life

Absolutely this!

From a child’s perspective, I would’ve thought having a dad who’d played in the World Cup would be much more special!!!

My dad wasn’t at my birth, it’s not something I ever thought about growing up.

I disagree profoundly with what she said, it certainly wasn’t true for either of my births, which both went spectacularly wrong and left me with permanent health problems. I am personally offended by her comments.

However - I think her view is not uncommon, it’s highly subjective and she has every right to say it. Even if I think it’s offensive. She isn’t inciting violence or demonising a minority. We have to stop with this histrionic pitchfork reaction to people with opposing views, calm down and rediscover the art of civilised argument.

Edit - I am not accusing OP of a histrionic pitchfork reaction! I was referencing cancel culture generally, probably irrelevantly (sorry)

He has played in the WC. He left training camp to be there for the birth, now's he's back

Then he has the best of both worlds!!!

Hurray! TBH, even if he was only due to come off the bench in the 85th minute for a single, relatively inconsequential match then he still got picked for the world cup. I can imagine the conversations in school in 10 year's time. "Praise's incredibly successful, talented and rich father with a job that most of us in year 5 aspire, to loves him very much" isn't something you can really base a bullying campaign around

@ChrisTheBastard So true!!! I imagine Neil Armstrong’s children were popular at school too!!!

Further to my last post. See Jeremy Doku is on his way back to rejoin the French team after flying visit to London to see his child being born.

What did l say. Sorry to be cynical but the whole things seems like a bit of a publicity stint to me. Or he did it to shut his wife up.

As in the World Cup meaning more to him than his family.

Tout Alors.

Knowing that my dad would be willing to miss a few days in the competition for me would matter far more than him ditching my mom to give birth alone when she wanted his emotional support. I would think “what a dick” (what is what I do think of the fact my dad skipped my birth and first saw me at six weeks old.)

Cool misogyny. And would he be flying to the French team?

Yep

This is what happens when someone becomes obsessed with a sport. Anyone who thinks he shouldn’t be at the birth is forgetting that they don’t always go without a hitch, what if there were complications and he’d chosen the game ?

The footballer was at the birth so this is all moot now. My dad not being at my birth didn’t mean he wasn’t a good father.

18 years later I'm still gutted I missed DD's birth, although given neither DP or I knew she was pregnant, I'm sure I would have been worse than useless in the moment!

This footballer seems to have his head on straight. Missing a couple of football games they might not even qualify for vs. the birth of the person he's going to spend the rest of his life caring for. No contest.

My exH at the birth of our eldest stuck his face in the pillow and said Don't look Seahorses it's disgusting, threw up and promptly walked out..