Husband being present while wife in labor at hospital

27-7-2003 | IslamWeb

Question:

Can you please tell me if a husband is allowed to be present whilst his wife is giving labor at the hospital? Whatever the outcome, could you please provide some evidence?

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Answer:

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions. There is nothing wrong with a husband being present at wife's labour, because there is no Awrah between a woman and her husband. The evidence of this is the Saying of Allah, {…They are Lîbas [i.e. body cover, or screen, or Sakan, (i.e. you enjoy the pleasure of living with her - as in Verse 7:189) Tafsir At-Tabarî], for you and you are the same for them.}[2:187]. The Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) and his wife used to bathe together as it is authentically reported in the Saheehs of Al-Bukhari and Muslim . Both compilers also reported that 'Ayisha narrated manner of Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam)'s bath. The husband has greater right to attend his wife's labour than the midwives. The midwives are only allowed to do so out of necessity. As for the husband, he has every right to see his wife's nakedness even if there is no necessity. This is the best ruling. However, we believe that the husband should not look at his wife's nakedness during labour because the scene may look repulsive to him. Allah knows best.