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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Husband may faint during birth

62 replies

Chocrabbit · 14/04/2026 17:34

Had first midwife appointment yesterday, husband had to leave the room as he felt faint at the talk of injections. Didn’t make it back to the waiting room before he passed out. Midwife suggested I find an alternative birthing partner. I feel sad as only wanted Hubbie in the room. Only 7 weeks pregnant so got ages, Hubbie wants to get therapy to help. Any similar experiences / do I need another birthing partner?

OP posts:
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Tumbler2121 · 14/04/2026 17:37

Get another partner. You need to concentrate on you and the baby during the birth instead of him.

he can stay with you till it gets busy.

WhatAMarvelousTune · 14/04/2026 17:39

It’s probably worth having someone else on standby maybe? Although I do know someone who faints at injections but was actually fine when his wife gave birth, even fine through a postpartum haemorrhage.

Therapy is a good idea though. Or even just some gentle exposure therapy at home - read some articles about injections and blood, move up to some videos of injections, then videos of blood tests or something.

Echobelly · 14/04/2026 17:39

Can your or his mum or sister be there for the birth? Or a good friend or other female relative if the former is not an option? It sounds like he needs to be outside the room until baby is there safely. As people have said, you don't want to have to worry about him as well.

GlovedhandsCecilia · 14/04/2026 17:39

I'd see about therapy and see how things are towards the end of the pregnancy. FWIW, my husband is very similar but by the end of the pregnancy, he was fine with whatever happening to me, he just didnt watch!

Seriously, he was able to be present but did turn his head for gory bits.

Elizabeta · 14/04/2026 20:31

Peruse therapy. It could cause problems if he can’t handle this stuff - you will need to always take them for his jabs, he could panic if he needs to take them to A&E for instance.

But also get a backup birthing partner. You need someone rock solid who will keep the attention on you!

Hatty65 · 14/04/2026 20:35

You need another husband!

The talk of having injections made him physically pass out before he got to the waiting room? Jesus. This is a man who will be useless to you when things go wrong or your children get ill.

Lennonjingles · 14/04/2026 20:41

He isn’t the first or the last to feel like this, now you know he’s like this, the professionals can try and help him overcome.

JustAMiddleAgedDirtBagBaby · 14/04/2026 20:45

Hatty65 · 14/04/2026 20:35

You need another husband!

The talk of having injections made him physically pass out before he got to the waiting room? Jesus. This is a man who will be useless to you when things go wrong or your children get ill.

^^ I didn't mean to quite this post but can't remove it! I completely disagree with this poster, if it helps...

My husband was the same. Fainted in an ante-natal class - he had been running really late from work, went straight to the class having not eaten since about midday, the room was incredibly hot and stuffy. Midwives started to describe a C-section, and over he went!

Births were fine. He left the room for the sitting of epidurals but as far as I was concerned the only person that mattered at that point was the anaesthetist.

SilenceInside · 14/04/2026 20:45

This is why I had a doula for my first pregnancy. DP actually turned out ok in the end, but it meant I didn’t spend any time thinking about whether he would be alright or not. He left the room when the epidural was going in, and I was grateful to have the doula there for that as I needed physical support in that moment. DP was amazing when everything turned into an emergency c section and baby was poorly. He was with DS when he had to have a spinal tap and other things, and not a hint of fainting.

DP has subsequently been fine for anything involving the kids, and only feels faint now if it’s something involving him directly.

APatternGrammar · 14/04/2026 20:45

Have him watch videos of births (also sections) and see if he can get used to it? Or maybe start with videos of IVs or whatever and work up?
I wouldn’t think you’d need a backup, though, you’d probably be fine on your own even if he leaves for a while.

Cvn · 14/04/2026 20:54

IME men are disproportionately squeamish about injections and blood tests. Obviously a generalisation, but I've encountered far more men who can't handle needles than I have women! Sometimes it's a needle-specific thing and they're not as fussed about other medical procedures. How is he around things like a child falling and getting a bloody knee? Or watching surgery etc on TV? Has he ever needed any invasive medical procedures done? How did he find those? Do you know where his sueamishness comes from?

Tbh, he wouldn't be the first man to faint during a birth! If the attention needs to be on you and there are no staff available to care for him they will literally move him out of the way and keep focusing on you.

Does your hospital allow two birth partners?

StarsShiningOnANighttimeSea · 14/04/2026 21:54

Hatty65 · 14/04/2026 20:35

You need another husband!

The talk of having injections made him physically pass out before he got to the waiting room? Jesus. This is a man who will be useless to you when things go wrong or your children get ill.

Phobias will be phobias. 🙄

@Chocrabbit Therapy will help your DH, and how good that he's seeking it out now. He seems like he actively wants to make a good partner for you for birth, so don't discount him just yet.

My husband is the same. He's extremely needlephobic, and just the thought of them can send him all woozy. He's also not fantastic with the sight of blood. Being jabbed himself (he needs regular bloods taken) he needs to be laying down.

But when it came to the reality of me getting jabbed he was fine. He made sure he kept his fluid and sugar intake up, tried to not build it up on his head, and either left the room or looked away when I was having a cannula inserted or any other injections. He was instructed that if he felt faint at any point to not stand up, and to slide down off the chair to sit on the floor. The midwife will call for aid for him. He wouldn't be the first husband we see faint (I work in the obstetric theatres) and he certainly wouldn't be the last.

That being said, I did choose to bring along my Mum for my first labour just in case. But she wasn't needed. Neither was DH to be fair, but I'm glad he was there.

With our second it was just us two, and he did superbly. He gave me all the support I wanted, then made it through an epidural and a C-section without wavering. He opted not to look when the drapes were dropped, as he had built that part up in his head, but that was it.

Some men just get overwhelmed and overstressed by the whole thing, but with some education and preparation about what can happen and what to do in those events will help give him focus and reduce stress when the real thing happens. Give him a chance. He'll probably surprise you.

Ophir · 14/04/2026 21:55

Fuck sake, he needs to get a grip

Dalmationday · 14/04/2026 21:57

I really wouldn’t try to have him as a birth partner. Fainting at the talk of injections?

fuck me, my easiest (out of 3) births was a 1,000 times more gross and medical than that.

he won’t be doing you any favours

CleanSkin · 14/04/2026 21:59

Ophir · 14/04/2026 21:55

Fuck sake, he needs to get a grip

This.

Clefable · 14/04/2026 22:01

And meanwhile there’s my DH, delighted to have watched my intestines being moved out of the way during my c-section 🙈

GrianGealach · 14/04/2026 22:04

On Team ‘Get A Grip.’

user2848502016 · 14/04/2026 22:29

I think your midwife is right, you need someone who can support you, not everyone is cut out to be a birthing partner.

frecklejuice · 14/04/2026 22:40

Tell him to get a grip and sort himself out, how’s he going to cope when the kids are vomiting or they need their vaccinations? You definitely need a better birthing partner because he will be useless.

Ophir · 14/04/2026 22:42

Why do women hitch their wagon to such hopeless men?

And now the birth is all about him 🙈

Screamingabdabz · 14/04/2026 22:50

Ophir · 14/04/2026 22:42

Why do women hitch their wagon to such hopeless men?

And now the birth is all about him 🙈

Edited

100% this.

SilenceInside · 14/04/2026 22:53

To be fair to my DP, this is pretty much his only foible.

GoldenCupsatHarvestTime · 14/04/2026 22:56

Hatty65 · 14/04/2026 20:35

You need another husband!

The talk of having injections made him physically pass out before he got to the waiting room? Jesus. This is a man who will be useless to you when things go wrong or your children get ill.

It’s a physical thing and not his fault… it’s well documented that lots of people faint at things like this.

Im the exact same as him except im female. I don’t know how I will get through birth but I will just have to just like I’ve had to get through blood tests while passing out over and over and over.

It doesn’t make me a useless person because I have a physical reaction to needles and yes even thoughts of needles. I’m still a human being.

WhatMe123 · 14/04/2026 23:10

This is a phobia, needle phobia or blood phobia and this is the only time anxiety causes fainting.
With anxiety most people get an increase in blood pressure due to faster heart rate due to Adrenalin, this the means it’s actually impossible to faint. People with a needle phobia have the actual opposite, they get a sudden drop in blood pressure due to their blood moving more internally (believed to be a primitive thing to reduce the risk of bleeding, the nearer your blood to the skin surface the more likely you are to bleed out). Cbt is required with applied tension techniques where your husband learns to basically increase his blood pressure at high risk events, injections, seeing blood, hospitals etc.
its not a case of getting a grip it’s a a
phobia that it treatable
https://www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/health-information/needle-phobia-and-overcoming-your-fear

good luck op

Needle phobia and overcoming your fear - Overview

How to use relaxation, applied tension technique and a fear ladder to help you overcome the fear of needles and injections.

https://www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/health-information/needle-phobia-and-overcoming-your-fear

canonlydoblue · 14/04/2026 23:19

My husband has always been squeamish and used to hate talking or hearing about medical procedures pre-children. He has been an absolute rock in all our childrens' births though. Make sure he has a job, even if its just holding a fan, rubbing your back, or always having your water ready.

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