It's a terrifying, exciting, and extremely intimate time for a woman. She should have someone there who's presence can calm her, and that's not always her s/o. I made my mil stay.:) I adored her, and she had a tremendously calming effect on both my husband and I. Which was good since I had complications giving birth to our son. The human female body was not meant to pass a 10lb kid through her loins..... My husband told me later how helpless he felt. He couldn't help me, he couldn't take away the pain, all he could do was hold my hand. With both kids, I eventually told him to stfu with telling me to bloody breathe.:)