IS THERE A PHYSIOLOGICAL-BASIS FOR THE COUVADE AND ONSET OF PATERNAL CARE

Couvade is the male experience of pregnancy and couvade syndrome incorporates a range of symptoms suffered by ''pregnant'' men. The aetiology of the couvade syndrome is unknown. Anthropologists, psychiatrists, nurses and sociologists have provided explanations for behaviour changes in ''pregnant'' men in terms of cultural pressure, intrapsychic processes and psychosocial adaptation to a new situation. The adoption of a biological perspective allows us to ask a new question: is there a physiological basis for the couvade syndrome? A fresh research agenda would include measurement of physiological change and a search for causation. Implications for nursing are outlined.