'We gave it lots of thought' Jamie Oliver defends decision to have daughters in birthing room

Jamie Oliver has hit back at critics who said it was wrong for his two daughters to witness their mum, Jools, giving birth.

Letting your children watch you give birth may not be a popular idea with some parents, but in an interview with Good Housekeeping the dad of five has defended his decision, explaining it's 'only controversial to really strange people.'

Jamie revealed after his son River was born that Poppy Honey, 14, and Daisy Boo, 12, were in the birthing room with him and wife Jools, and Poppy Honey even cut the umbilical cord.

While many praised him for this, others claimed that the delivery room is no place for children.

Now, the chef has defended his decision against critics who slammed him for exposing his children to childbirth.

'It was the right age for them, the right scenario for us, and I witnessed their initial raw emotion as the little one was handed to them,' he said.

'I know they respect their mum now even more than they already did. It was an amazing show of strength.'

He also said that attitudes towards giving birth differ around the world, and that families taking part in home births is popular in a lot of other countries.

'Most of the world has home births, and different countries have different habits.

'It was an idea from mum and the kids, and we gave it lots of thought. As soon as the baby was out and safe, we got the nod – Poppy cut the umbilical cord!

'We gave it lots of thought', he added.

The Oliver family welcomed baby River Rocket to their family in August, with Jamie sharing the happy news on Instagram.

'Everyone in the Oliver family is very surprised and beyond happy. He arrived safely, mum @joolsoliver was really really amazing, unbelievable composed, natural birth and my two eldest Girls got to come in at the very end as the baby was born which was amazing to witness very very emotional.'

'8 lbs (that's 16 packs of butter for you bakers out there) anyway were all hitting the hay it's been a long day big love...'

Do you agree with Jamie that children watching childbirth is a normal way of showing them life, or do you think it's overexposing them? Let us know in the comments below!