Unless he is told, a man may not know how much his presence and emotional support really meant to the laboring woman. A man may also feel that the labor experience has altered his whole life view. He may have gained a sense of the miraculous and spiritual, of a deeper meaning to life. Not all fathers, of course, are able to share the birth experience. A lot of fathers who missed their babies' births worry that not having been there will affect their relationships with their babies.
Birth is a special moment in the parent-child relationship, but it is only one moment.
The years of child rearing provide many other shared moments that are just as important in the development of a relationship between father and child.