Birth Partners

I am increasinly starting to think that the only thing worse than being too disinterested in your wife's pregnancy is being too interested in it. Having recently received an email from a lovely friend in London, an ex-colleague, with whom we share a due date, following the entry on Maternity Classes, it seems London has gone as far as Buenos Aires in extremes. Here, I am often the only guy who is still awake at the end of the classes (and I don't even know the words). There, guys get looked looked upon with organic scorn if they also do not yearn to feed from their breast.

The conversations have been going something like this:

London:
- So are you the father?
- I prefer the term 'birthing partner'.
- Do you... (To the birth partner with the uterus, formerly known as the 'woman') And is this your first pregancy?
- (Intercepted by birth partner without uterus) Yes, it's the first time we've been pregnant.

Buenos Aires:
- So, are you going to the birth then?
- Er, yeah.
- Yeah, but I mean actually in the room?
- Yeah.
- Wow.
- Well. Where I'm from if you're not in the room for the birth, you're not really welcome in any room again...
- And you're from...?
- Mars.