Syndrome of the week

Our syndrome of the week is :
"Couvade syndrome"
The term couvade is derived from the early French word (Couver "to hatch") and originally referred to the medieval Basque custom in which the father, during or immediately after the birth of a child, took to bed, complained of having labour pains, and was accorded the treatment usually shown women during pregnancy or after childbirth. The medical term for this rare condition is sympathetic pregnancy.
Couvade "involves a father experiencing some of the behavior of his wife at near the time of childbirth, including her birth pains, postpartum seclusion, food restrictions, and sex taboos" .
Western medicine has tended to see the couvade as a medical syndrome or pathology.

ref:wikipedia
omc