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Dr. Reitzel offers three tips for expectant fathers while their partner is in labor.
Dr. Reitzel:
I’d like to give you three tips and this is aimed for the dads. Number one, okay dads, make sure you eat, all right? Don’t eat in front of your wife or your girlfriend or the mother of the baby because they can’t eat. Besides a hamburger to a pregnant women at four centimeters makes them want to vomit. If they vomit I vomit. I have to wear a mask, it is just not good.
Number two, if mom is getting an epidural and you are supportive enough that you want to give your hands to mom so that she could squeeze something, two fingers not three, if you get three she will leverage the middle finger and she will break it, okay? Two fingers, you can’t get that leverage and as a consequence fingers don’t break, all right?
Third tip to dad, if you are even the least amount nervous about blood, IVs, epidurals, don’t watch. If you fall you are going to hit your head. If you pass out you are going to miss the delivery because you are going to be in the emergency room getting a head CT scan because you just whacked your head against the edge of the counter. So, that’s for the dads.
About Dr. Keith E. Reitzel:
Dr. Keith Eric Reitzel, M.D., is the Clinical Director at Anesthesia Resources, Ltd. in Tempe, Arizona. Dr. Reitzel is certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology and he is certified in Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS). Additionally, he is on the Anesthesia, Critical Care, and Surgery Committees at Banner Desert Medical Center. Dr. Reitzel is licensed in Arizona, as well as North Carolina.