UK’s dad-to-be shows sympathetic pregnancy symptoms

One dad-to-be in the UK has been showing pregnancy symptoms.

According to MailOnline UK, a father-to-be has been signed off work claiming he is suffering from morning sickness.

Harry Ashby, 29, who is expecting a baby with fiancée Charlotte Allsopp, 19, says he has been diagnosed with Couvade syndrome – or sympathetic pregnancy – after going to his GP complaining of weight gain, exhaustion and food cravings.

The security guard, from Erdington, Birmingham, believes he is the first man in Britain to be signed off sick with the unusual condition, which many doctors do not recognise.

He said his problems began two months ago when he and Miss Allsopp, his partner of three years, discovered she was pregnant.

 

Mr Ashby, who has auditioned for both Britain’s Got Talent and X Factor, said he started suffering from morning sickness and noticed his breasts and stomach were growing.

Like his fiancée, he felt exhausted all the time, and suffered back and chest pains.

Miss Allsopp, a hairdresser, said: ‘He started throwing up in the mornings and we’d lie on the sofa and moan at the same time about our aches and pains.

She said the father of her baby girl, which is due early next year, shares her cravings for fatty foods such as Chinese takeaways, as well as orange Lucozade.

He also began craving salt and vinegar crisps, which he normally dislikes, just like her. 

But Mr Ashby, a part-time model who prides himself on his physique, began to panic when he discovered he’d put on a stone and a half.

 

The couple researched Mr Ashby’s symptoms on the internet before he went to see his GP, who diagnosed him with the little-known Couvade syndrome, or sympathetic pregnancy.

Mr Ashby, who said his doctor told him he was the first man in Britain to be given a sick note for the condition, went to his security firm boss who let him take time off work in light of the diagnosis. 

He told the Sun he felt better knowing what was wrong with him, and appreciated the insight into what his fiancée was going through.

Mr Ashby said he also had a new understanding of what the Duchess of Cambridge, who is suffering from a severe form of morning sickness known as hyperemesis gravidarum, was going through.

And he said he hoped speaking out about the condition might help others suffering a similar problem. 

His partner, however, is not entirely sympathetic.

‘I do get a bit tired of having to look after Harry when he should be looking after me,’ she said. 

The talent show hopeful and his fiancée previously lost a baby during pregnancy, and they believe the trauma of this led to their unusual closeness, which they say their friends find fascinating.

 

Miss Allsopp’s baby is now due on 2 January, and she is not the only one to feel anxious about giving birth.

Mr Ashby said: ‘I’m a bit nervous, as some men who have Couvade syndrome also had bad labour pains when their partners give birth.’

Source: Dailymail.uk