Her main purpose in living was to give birth to another one of the tribes. If she gave birth to a boy, she fulfilled her purpose. If she gave birth to a girl, she didn t fulfill her purpose. Rachel was able to sublimate her feelings at the time, and the midwife knew it, so she was eager to tell Rachel what she knew would make her happy. Because there is a mitzvah for the child to love his parent it s an aspect of the mitzvah of honoring parents.
Some people find it hard to cry especially men.
But sometimes a person can find himself shedding tears over nothing over a story he read, even though he knows that it s just fiction. When that happens, when for some reason something triggers your tears, direct them towards something worth crying about. Remember the destruction of the Temple, remember the Holocaust. Even if you can t create an emotion, you can often direct it once it arises. This is the quality of Malchus of being a king, for a true king is a person who rules over himself.