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Kids in the Delivery Room

Should They Be in There?

By Kendeyl Johansen

Quickly involving her older child in her newborn's life and letting her son watch the birth video formed a close bond between the brothers. "My older son was attentive, helpful and loving with his baby brother," Ramirez says. "Now that my second son is almost 2, they couldn't be closer."

During a home birth in Ontario, Canada, Heather O'Neil helped care for her friend's three children while their mom gave birth. "The 5-year-old was taken to the neighbor's early when it became apparent this was too much for her, but the older two were ecstatic at being present," she says. O'Neil feels the birth experience was positive for the kids.

Hoover encourages women to have their children present at births. "Go for it!" she says. "Birth gives kids perspective on life and a deep appreciation for things on a higher level. It helps kids understand miracles."

Hoover had prepared to have her eighth child at home, but she ended up being rushed to the hospital by ambulance and delivered her baby without her kids present. "I truly regret having him alone," she says. "It was a joyous celebration to have others with me while giving birth. If my son hadn't survived his hospital birth [as was predicted] his brothers and sisters would never have seen him, gotten to know him, or touch him."

Want to see more?

• Who Will Attend Your Baby's Birth?
• Preparing Your Child for the New Baby
• So, You Want to Have a Homebirth...
• Talk About It