Life

Man Experiences Labor Pains Because Mother's Day

by Lara Rutherford-Morrison

Hey guys, Mother’s Day is just around the corner, and if you’re still struggling to figure out what to get the mother of your children, here’s an idea from the Holderness family: Get her a machine that allows men to experience the pain of childbirth. It’ll be fun for the whole family! The Holderness family, headed by parents Penn and Kim, have already achieved Internet fame with their music parody videos, including the back-to-school tribute “Baby Got Class,” and Thanksgiving anthem “All About That Baste” (yes, they sound cheesy, but in fact they are adorable and completely charming).

This year for Mother’s Day, Kim bought a labor pain simulator online (it appears to use electric shocks to make the rectus muscles, aka the abs, contract, similarly to how the uterus contracts during labor), and the couple had a doctor use it on Penn to let him experience the joys of childbirth. The results are pretty much what you’d expect: Labor pains are insanely, horrifically painful. After one “contraction” that has Penn literally screaming, he asks, “So how many times does that happen?” Kim responds, “Just, like, for ten hours.” EEESH.

The Holdernesses aren’t the first to try labor pain simulation. In China last year, a hospital started offering labor simulation sessions to men to help them have more sympathy for what women experience in childbirth. One participant described the experience to The Guardian: “It felt like my heart and lungs were being ripped apart. Basically, it was really painful. You can’t even describe how painful it was.” Of course, an electric stimulator can’t really replicate the full extent of labor pains, since a guy can just ask to have the machine turned off, instead of enduring it until he pushes a baby out of his body, but a small taste of the experience might allow some men to have a greater sense of empathy for the women in their lives.

Even if labor simulation isn’t going to revolutionize gender politics, this video wins on entertainment value alone. I mean, just look at the expression of unholy glee on Kim’s face as her husband writhes in pain:

Seriously, she is thrilled:

Watch the whole thing:

They also made a parody music video of the experience set to One Direction’s “One Thing” because of course they did:

Images: YouTube (3)