Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: sympathetic pregnancy

  • Couvade syndrome: Expectant fathers and pregnancy symptoms

    When prospective fathers develop the same symptoms as their pregnant wives, they are said to suffer from couvade syndrome, or sympathetic pregnancy. Named after the French word couver, meaning to brood or hatch, it was described in 1865 by the British anthropologist Edward Tylor and consists of the prospective father developing physical and psychological symptoms—nausea,…