Couvade

I am fascinated that sympathetic pregnancy exists, and that it has such a poetic sounding name. I will not be very impressed if my husband does take to his bed during or after the birth though.

From Wikipedia:

The term Couvade is derived from the early French word (Couver "to hatch") and custom where the father, during or immediately after the birth of a child, takes to bed, complains of having labour pains, and is accorded the treatment usually shown women during pregnancy or after childbirth.

It is thought that couvade is a way to minimize sexual differences in the pregnancy and birthing experience. The couvade may also be a way to establish the father's role in the child's life and to give balance to the gender roles. An earlier theory suggests that the couvade was evidence of male envy. Couvade is more common where sex roles are flexible and female power and status high.

Western medicine has tended to see the couvade as a medical syndrome or pathology. Defined medically, couvade is another term for Sympathetic pregnancy.



Weeks: 19+2