A 34-year-old male was admitted to our department with dyspnoea and severe pain in the left hemithorax. The symptoms had started suddenly three days before in the delivery room when his child was being born. An X-ray of the chest showed a tumour in the left side of the mediastinum and a large left pleural effusion. This was confirmed by CT, which revealed a round mass 11 cm in diameter. During the operation a benign solitary fibrous tumour was radically resected from the pleura and a large hemothorax was removed. This unusual presentation with severe bleeding from a pleural tumour was most probably initiated by the expectant father's excitement during his wife's labour.