Sports anchor Ruben Van Gucht (35) was not there last week when his wife Blanka Vlasic (39) gave birth to their son Mondo. Because that is not allowed in Croatia. “Fortunately, the days when dads had to pace in the hallways are long gone. Now they are even needed in the delivery room”, responds gynecologist Hendrik Cammu.
Jan Claeys
Different countries, different rules. When Ruben Van Gucht was put on a blue hospital suit in the Croatian city of Split last Tuesday, he thought he would fully experience the birth of his son. “I’m going to be able to see it or at least be there,” he told his program last weekend De weekwatchers on Radio 2. “I was really looking forward to that. It is surely a unique moment in someone’s life, seeing the baby come out. But no, I was not allowed to be there.”
The presenter only saw his son Mondo after birth. “I thought the operation had yet to start when they came to get me. I couldn’t share the emotions with Blanka. My son was lying there – that was a fantastic moment, of course, to see my son – but you might want to share that with mommy anyway. That did not work.” Because that’s the rule in Croatia. In our country it is normal for dads to be present at the birth of their child. Also during a caesarean section, as in the case of Van Gucht and the ex-high jumper. “Then they are with the anesthetist behind a cloth. They don’t see the operation, but they are with their wives,” says gynecologist Hendrik Cammu. “They can even hold her hand.”
“More than a companion”
Those dads are not only welcome in the delivery room, they can also help. “Until the 1970s, they weren’t really needed. They even got in the way. Only two people were important in the delivery room. The mom and the midwife. The latter is the orchestra leader during childbirth, much more so than we gynaecologists. A woman in labor was then only concerned with herself and the pain. But in the meantime, many women give birth under epidural anaesthesia. And because of that, the role of the man has become much more important. He is more than a companion. He can support his wife, dab her forehead, hold her arm,… or just cheer.”
Cammu is convinced that Mondo Van Gucht will also be able to attend a birth in Croatia in twenty or thirty years’ time. “That’s an evolution. Fortunately, we went through those a long time ago, Croatia will make them one day. Especially now that it is an EU country. Keeping daddy away from childbirth is actually a punishment. You make a child together, then you also want to experience that birth together. Fortunately, the days of pacing and smoking dads in the hallway are long behind us.”
