This material was presented in the 25th European Congress of Psychiatry which was organised by the European Psychiatry Association in Florence, Italy from 1-4th April 2017. I had access to the material as I attended the full Congress. Please note that this material remains the intellectual property of the European Psychiatry Association and its authors and any citation should include a full reference to it. For more information on the EPA and how to become a member, please visit: http://www.europsy.net/

1. Introduction-.
As human reproduction has to been seen not only from the biological (gender) but from the social and anthropological perspective, and as
long as paternity joins a very important aspect in men identity, we found essential to review actual and past literature in order to
explain symptoms and attitudes experienced by some fathers to be. Couvade syndrome was first described in the mid sixties by a
group of british authors who tried to analyze some typical pregnancy symptoms observed in fathers to be. This symptoms are
heterogeneous and could be difficultly classified, but must of the authors tend to group them in anxiety or somatophorm-like
disorders. . Couvade has to be contemplated as a way to define the new identity of the father to be, and his bond with the newborn, his
couple and the society. Finally, Couvade could be seen as a proactive and constructive preparation of the male to the paternity, out of
psycopathology and recognize these comprehensive reactions as a normal and functional part of the reproductive ritual.
Maternity throughout history has been seen as every women destiny by itself, until Simon de Beauvoir, contemplated maternity as an
option, not only as the women natural fate. That way of thinking sometimes created guilt in mothers (destiny of their children depends
only on herself), beliefs in eternal love naturalism, despersonalization and rejection of the paternal figure in all this process
Human reproduction cannot be seen only as a biological issue, but as a social activity, determinated by political, cultural, and material
conditions. The biological fact of gestation is isolated from its psychological aspects. Malinowsky made it clear almost a century ago
that fathers are intimately involved in pregnancy. If a man experiences a psychological state of pregnancy, it is considered to have
little or no relation to the pregnancy at hand, as well as an aberrant cause taking place on female characteristics. In the medical model,
men who experience reactions to pregnancy are understood to suffer from either psychological or biological disturbances. Their
experience of pregnancy is defined as pathological somatic reactions and explained in psychological diagnoses: Hysterical reactions
that give evidence of delusion and neurosis.
¿How can we understand couvade? Is it a neurotic attempt to deal with sublimated drives, as it is suggested in medical literature, or is it a
ritual preparation of the father for its new child?
Objective
The objetive of this communication is to distinguish either if Couvade is part of a morbid state or part of the natural ritual of pregnancy.
These symtoms could be seen as related to anxious pathology, but sometimes these fathers to be show absence of anxiety in presence
of multiple physical (pregnancy) symptoms. Some pshychosocial and emotional factors such as low socio-economical and educational
status, early lack of faher and intmate bond with own mother have been implicated in the uncertain aetiology of this condition.
From a psycodynamic perspective couvade sydrome has been explained as delivery envy, identification with the expectant mother (
showing deep empathy feelings with his wife , Trethowan, 1972), paternity ambivalence, latent homoexuality and prceiving faetus as a
rival.
From a biologicist point of view Mason and Flood (1975) proposed Couvade ritual as a ritualization of Couvade syndrome in pre-
industrial communities, explaining couvade symptoms as the result of the interpretation of phisiologic processes which take place in
individuals as a preparation for paternity.
Material and Methods-
In this communication we explore into the deep causes of this syndrome and its links to the couvade ritual described in some ancient
cultures like the Greek (year 60 B.C.), with the help of the exhaustive revision of the little existing literature
Results and Discussion. -
It seems that modern man has a crecent need of regaining lost femenine values and reaching the creative archetype through preganacy and
delivery.
• For some men, gestation Para ciertos hombres, la gestación y el cuidado del bebé han dejado de ser patrimonio exclusivo de la mujer y
de manera natural tratan de separarse de ellos para sostener los roles tradicionales de hombre y padre, lo que puede generar esta
sintomatología. (Masoni, 1994)
• It´s been objectified taht men who experiment symntoms during the first preganancy ot their wives were much more involved in
gestation, had better preparation of paternal role and less stress in the transition man-father (Longobucco, 1989).
• Symptomatic men tend to produce femenine responses in covert measurements and hypermasculine ones in clearly exposed
measurements. The hypermasculine responses were interpreted as attempts to deal with an underlying sexual-crossed identity
(Munroe, 1971).
After more than a century using anthropology in order to understand couvade in other societies and medicine to undersatnd it in the
occidental world, it is time to regard couvade ritual and symptoms not as a necessarily pathological condition.
Couvade needs to be contemplated as a way to define the new identity of a male and the relationship with his child, couple and society.
We could see Couvade as a proactive and constructive preparation of male to paternity, faraway from pathological issues and
recognize this comprehensive reactions as normal and functional within reproductive rituals.
Bibliography.-
1.-Trethowan W. H, Conlon M.F. “The Couvade Syndrome”. Brit. J. Psychiat. (1965)
2.-Masoni.S, Maio.A, Timarchi.G et al. “The Couvade Sydrome”. J. Psychosom . Obstet. Gynecol. 15 (1994)
3.-Haynal. A. “Le Syndrome de Couvade”. Annales médico-psychologiques, Paris 126 anné, nº4
25th European Congress of Psychiatry
Florence, Italy, pril 1-4 2017
Marta Navas Tejedor (1) Department of Psychiatry. Hospital Universitario Infanta Leonor.
Madrid (Spain)
Julia García-Albea Martín (2) Department of Psyquiatry. Hospital Universitario Clínico San
Carlos, Madrid (Spain)
Pedro García Parajuá (3) Department of Psyquiatry. Hospital Universitario Majadahonda,
Madrid (Spain)
COUVADE
SYNDROME:
PREGNANCY IN MEN