Parentpedia

What Experts Say

If your husband's having physical symptoms now that you're pregnant, you are not alone. As weird as it sounds, there are thousands-year old records of men having pregnancy symptoms, in cultures all across the globe, and even in other species!

Studies have shown that some men living with a woman during pregnancy undergo changes in their own hormone balances -- even before they know that she's pregnant.

This phenomenon has a name: couvade syndrome. Researchers are looking into how the fathers' hormones change their behavior and their bodies.

The Symptoms

A man may feel very invested in the pregnancy and sympathetic with what the woman is going through, and his body, feelings, and behavior reflect this.

• He may gain weight pound for pound with the mom and can develop quite a belly of his own.
• Men can also experience classic morning sickness symptoms like nausea, indigestion, and vomiting. They can also have constipation, headache, and insomnia.
• Later, he may have aches and pains, even acute ones during labor.

Although scientists don't understand what causes couvade syndrome, they speculate that the huge transformation of pregnancy in the woman's body causes stress and apprehension for the man, as well as a deep feeling of compassion and connectedness, that causes him to suffer right alongside you.

The Treatment

There's no known treatment for couvade syndrome. Doctors don't diagnose it, because it's not considered a disease. If your husband is having lots of pregnancy symptoms, treat him kindly and with good humor. Once the baby's born, he'll probably lose his paunch first.