In Justus v. Atchison (1977) 19 Cal.3d 564, a consolidated appeal joining two similar cases, each plaintiff, a father, was in the delivery room when alleged negligent acts occurred leading to the delivery of a stillborn child. In one case (Justus), the father watched the manipulation of the fetus by forceps and hand, and the emergency procedures then performed on the wife in connection with an attempted Ceasarean section. In the other case (Powell), the father was aware of the diminution of the fetal heart tones and observed the nurse's anxiety at her inability to monitor them, and was further aware of the resulting emergency and the failure of the doctor to respond promptly when called. Each father saw the prolapsing of the umbilical cord of the fetus and observed the pain and trauma of his wife. Each father sued for negligent infliction of emotional distress. The Supreme Court, at page 585, stated: "Whether the described events constitute negligence is questionable, but they no doubt induced a growing sense of anxiety on the plaintiff's part. Yet his anxiety did not ripen into the disabling shock which resulted from the death of the fetus until he was actually informed of that event by the doctor; prior to that moment, as a passive spectator he had no way of knowing that the fetus had died. In short, the impact derived not from what he saw and heard during the attempted delivery, but from what he was told after the fact." Judgments as to the dismissal of the causes of action were affirmed. In short, in Justus v. Atchison, two husbands sought to recover damages for negligent infliction of emotional distress after the negligence of physicians treating their wives led to the stillbirth of their unborn children. (Justus, supra, 19 Cal.3d at pp. 584-585.) The husbands in Justus were present in the delivery room, knew something was wrong during the delivery process, and observed their wives' distress. Further, the husbands were immediately told that their unborn children had not survived after their death occurred. (Ibid.) The California Supreme Court nonetheless denied recovery to the husbands on the ground that, although they were physically present in the delivery room, they did not witness the injuries to the victims, but rather were told of them after the fact. In so concluding, the court noted that "the death of the fetus was by its very nature hidden from the husband's contemporaneous perception . . . ." (Id. at p. 584.)