I’ve certainly heard a few variations of this one, many times over.
There’s a terrible fear that babies will just pop out from their walking, moving mothers, and go bouncing on the floor.

Babies are really slippery. I was surprised at how slippery the baby was the first time I helped catch a baby birthed in the standing postion. But two hands pretty well takes care of the “wet fish” situation.

I believe most women birth crouching, not standing upright, and generally they birth close enough to the floor that its NOT a problem if the baby drops.

Also giraffe’s birth completely standing and their baby falls. Giraffe baby deaths from falling are unheard of.

The hilarity comes not from the fact that it may be a little harder to catch a slippery baby with the mother standing up than on the bed, but from the fact that the doctor is implying that the baby is LESS slippery if born on the bed. ROFL! So, there’s not as much splooge if I lay down?