BEST ON TUESDAYS: Men and pregnancy

BARBADIANS of an earlier generation had no scientific explanation for the condition in which men were referred to as "breeding for their women" when they showed signs of morning sickness, nausea and other symptoms linked to the pregnancy of their partners.

Understandably, in the absence of any scientific explanation, it was often felt that when the signs occurred the woman had "bewitched" the man or that the man had just become bewitched on his own out of love for his partner. However, a recent study in Britain has shown that the latter assumption was not that far off mark in explaining why some men experience what the experts refer to as "phantom pregnancy", also known as "Couvade Syndrome".

Back in time when Bajans were baffled by the condition, young men in the villages were often warned that when their girlfriends were pregnant they should not allow them to step over them when they were lying on the floor since this act was guaranteed to pass on the woman's pregnancy symptoms to the man.

The British team who has been studying the phenomenon of phantom pregnancy has not come up with any such simplistic explanation. Instead, while acknowledging that expectant fathers can suffer from pregnancy symptoms such as morning sickness, cramps, back pain, mood swings, food cravings, fatigue, depression, fainting, insomnia, toothache and even swollen stomachs when their partners are pregnant, it is still not clear why this happens to some men, although it could be linked to anxiety over the pregnancy.

Researchers at St George's University, London, studied 282 fathers to be, between the ages of 19 and 55. Eleven of the men had gone to their doctors and no physical causes had been found. But in most cases the symptoms occurred early in their partners' pregnancy, while the others had the problem right up to the delivery of the baby.

Dr Arthur Brennan, who led the team of researchers, noted: "These men were so attuned to their partners, they started to develop the same symptoms."

That could explain what many Bajans were prone to regard as being "bewitched" where such men are concerned.

The personal experiences were funny. One man in the study said: "I was constantly hungry all the time and had an unstoppable craving for chicken. Even in the early hours of the morning. It was strange to say the least."

Another insisted that the stomach pain he experienced during his wife's labour was greater than hers. "It seemed like my pain was worse. Her contractions were fairly strong, but she couldn't push and as that was happening my stomach pain was building up and up and getting worse and worse."

Dr Brennan said: "Some people may perceive this (condition) as men trying to get in on the act, but far from being attention-seeking, these symptoms are involuntary. Often the men haven't got a clue what is happening to them.

"Doctors don't recognise Couvade Syndrome – there's no medical diagnosis. Yet this research proves that Couvade Syndrome really exists. The results speak for themselves."

Dr Harriet Gross, senior lecturer in the Department of Human Sciences at Loughborough University in Britain, said the syndrome had been identified and was believed to have a sympathetic basis. "It would be interesting to know," she said, "whether there was a correlation between women who suffer the worst symptoms and what their partners experience. The symptoms, which often happen early in pregnancy, may be a sign of impending anxiety, the beginning of a pregnancy is an uncertain time."

What is even more interesting is that laymen often stumble on and recognise situations which they seek to explain, however unorthodox these explanations might be, long before the experts do their thing.

Women don't have to "bewitch" their partners to pass on morning sickness when pregnant, but we now know that it is "passed on" for whatever reason and by whatever means, to some men and it is no joke.

source : www.nationnews.com