409. Childbirth

59:4 A person should adjust his attitude so that he recognizes that whatever Hashem does, He does for the good.

59:5 If a person’s wife gives birth to a son, the father recites haTov ve haMeitiv; the mother should do likewise. (One recites shehechiyanu upon seeing a new daughter for the first time – Mishnah Brurah 223:2.) If the woman dies in childbirth, the father recites shehichiyanu because the mother does not share in the simcha with him. (He first recites Dayan ha’emes on his wife’s passing. If she didn’t die in labor itself but passed away several hours later, he would recite haTov vehaMeitiv rather than shehechiyanu – MB 223:5.) Similarly, if the father died before the baby was born, the mother recites shehechiyanu upon giving birth.