Sam Faiers’ Home Birth Video Is Dividing The Internet: Should Children Ever Witness Their Parent Give Birth?

Sam Faiers has given birth to her third child, posting a heart-warming video on Instagram that shows her daughter holding her hand while she was in labour in a home-birthing pool. The 31-year-old reality star has now three children including Rosie, 4 and Paul, 6. She has yet to reveal her new baby's name.

In her birth announcement post, Sam posted footage of her home birth that showed Rosie supporting her through labour, while son Paul could be seen kissing his new brother. The video has over 300k likes and nearly 7000 comments as people rushed to congratulate the family on their latest arrival.

But it’s not all congratulations. In fact some are arguing that Sam shouldn’t have involved her other children in her home birth because according to them, childbirth is too traumatic for children to witness.

‘I think the kids should have gone to relatives, hearing and seeing their mother in pain could really upset them, and they're definitely too young to understand what's happening and why, they can come back soon afterwards when it's all over,’ one person commented online.

‘Sorry but I don't agree with small children watching their mother in the late stages of labour and then giving birth!! Some things are just not for children's viewing,’ another added.

Over on her Instagram though, the comments were much more supportive. ‘The most beautiful baby,’ former TOWIE star Lydia Bright commented with a crying emoji. ‘And watching Rosie holding your hand in labour.’ ‘So beautiful wasn’t it,’ another follower agreed.

The topic has caused debate online before, with Made For Mums polling their very divided readers. Some argued that it creates a stronger bond between the children and others made the important point that sometimes it’s the only option – birth is unpredictable, childcare is not always possible and affordable for some families.

But others have had negative experiences letting their children witness birth. ‘My 6- and 3-year-olds were terrified when I was labouring at home,’ one reader said. ‘They still remember now, 10 weeks later. Wouldn’t ever put them through that again.’

Of course, with home births there is more flexibility to let your children be involved as much as they want to. For all we know, Rosie could’ve been at Sam’s side during the early stages of labour but left the room while she actually gave birth. Some parents on Made for Mums reference having childcare on standby in another room so their children can pick and choose how much they want to witness.

So what do the experts say? 'If the birth is going well and everything is going to plan then it can be a fantastic experience,' family psychologist Dr Mair Edwards told the BBC. 'The problem is if it isn’t a smooth birth there can be panic and that can be really traumatic. As a mother you’ve also got to be comfortable with people watching you. It’s a very personal choice.'

Ultimately then, it’s for each family to decide what they think their child can handle. What we do know is that mothers already face intense judgement around the choices they make for their children, so perhaps we should simply trust parents to make the right decision for their families.