Meet Dads Wearing 3-Pound ‘Empathy Bellies’ To Experience The Pain Of Being 9-Months Pregnant

Jason Bramley, Steve Hanson and Jonny Biggins are discovering exactly what it’s like to have a baby on board by wearing pregnancy suits to honour mums in the run up to Mother’s Day on Sunday, March 15.

While most mothers would be happy with a bunch of flowers, the married dads, who are behind a new personalised Mother’s Day book called Book Of Mum, are wearing pregnancy suits all day every day for a month.

Currently on day eight of the project, the publishing directors, are charting the ups and downs of impending parenthood in an online diary.

Steve, 46, who is married to Kate and has a 12-year-old son, called Saul, said: ‘Every day things like putting on your socks becomes a monumental task.’

The trio, who are from England but all work at an office in Barcelona, are wearing their bumps to work, to the pub and to bed and are only allowed to remove them to wash.

Jason, 44, who is a father-of-one mused on day five: ‘I wonder why pregnant women don’t use wheelchairs. I have a chair in the office with wheels and this is a blessing. I can glide effortlessly across the office to my desired destination.’

The ’empathy belly’ comes complete with fake breasts and weighs two and a half stone – the average weight of a full term baby bump. It is designed to put pressure on the bladder, stomach and lungs, and cause abdominal distention and the inability to get comfortable.

‘On day three I didn’t sleep a wink, I just couldn’t get settled,’ said company director Steve, from Doncaster.

‘I tried to make a small city out of pillows around my bump. My boobs, which at first were quite a pleasurable novelty, soon became about as welcome as a fart in a spacesuit. They were way too warm and hung on my arm, sending it to sleep and waking me at the same time,’ he added.

By day three the constant swinging motion of his belly forced Jonny, 45, from Surrey to visit his local pharmacy and seek medical help.

‘I unzipped my jacket, exposing my belly and explaining my predicament to the woman behind the counter,’ says Jonny, dad to Enzo, five, and Leo, one. I expected her to crack a smile or reel back in shock but she nodded professionally like she’s seen it all before, opened a drawer and placed an elastic waist strap on the counter. A few minutes later, with belly strapped firmly in place, I waltzed out of there with a new-found spring in my stride. It was wonderful, I could move again.’

Yet despite the trials and tribulations just one week in Steve admits to bonding with his ‘baby’.

He told his diary: ‘It seems to be taking on a personality. It has a name, and its name is Bump. I cradle it, pat it, rub it and I just caught myself talking to it while patting it.’

As well as writing down their experiences the dads are also uploading videos of their pregnancy journeys to their online diaries – and all three are looking forward to Mother’s Day when they can remove the suits for good.

‘Huge respect goes to all you pregnant mums out there. Every single one of you,’ said Steve.

Source: DailyMail