werner@aecom.UUCP (Craig Werner) (08/23/85)
They suffer from insomnia, fatigue and backaches during pregnancy. They are irritable until the baby is born. They gain weight until the day of delivery and lose it in the next four weeks. But, they're fathers, not mothers. The phenomenon in which men experience the symptoms and problems of pregnancy is called couvade, and a study by Dr. Jacqueline Clinton of the Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Nursing found that in least one group of fathers it was quite common. Comparing 147 fathers-to-be and 66 men who were not in the family way, Clinton found that 90% of the expectant men reported a number the problems associated with pregnancy. But in one respect, the expectant fathers were macho to the core. They did not tell anyone but the researcher about their symptoms, and most of them didn't tell their wives that they took part in the study. Source: Edward Edelson "Personal Notes", _NY_Daily_News_, 8/19/85 -- Craig Werner !philabs!aecom!werner "The world is just a straight man for you sometimes"