I don’t think he wants to be there solely to witness his child being born. That’s part of child birth, but the other part is being with your partner during the process. Labor can be difficult and frightening. We had an emergency induction for our daughter, and my wife lost a lot of blood with my son. Both had jaundice, which, while not a long-term issue, led to both babies sleeping under “bili lights” for the first few nights of their life.
My wife needed me. With my daughter, I had a ton of court stuff that week. I cancelled all of it for a bit over a week and slept in a recliner in the hospital. Yes, people were inconvenienced, and since I’m self-employed, I lost some money. Who cares? I can’t imagine if my wife had been 1000 miles away, with the baby having complications without me there because I chose my job over family.