Men Suffer Pregnancy Pains in Labor Simulation
ABC News' Daisha Riley reports:
Labor is the type of pain that even makes grown men cry. But now, two Dutch television hosts, Dennis Storm and Valerio Zeno of the show "Guinea Pigs," can vouch for the fact that all the screaming isn't just an act-giving birth really hurts.
As part of a stunt for their show, Storm and Zeno were hooked up to a machine with electrodes stuck to their abdomens to simulate labor pains. And just like the real thing, the cramping of the "contractions" got stronger, longer and closer together.
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The men say they did it so they could better empathize with women. But not all women are buying it.
"You can think of this as a very strong Charley horse," said Dr. Jennifer Ashton, ABC News senior medical contributor. "Is it as painful as labor? My opinion would be it isn't."
ABC News' Abbie Boudreau showed Storm and Zeno's video to five-months-pregnant Marnette Verizino and her husband, James.
"There's no way for men to know unless they go through it themselves," Verizino said.
"Do you think you need to the feel the pain your wife is about to go through?" Boudreau asked James.
"No," he hesitantly replied.
"You're in trouble buddy," Boudreau joked.
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The labor simulation stunt was even a hot topic on "GMALIVE!" this morning.
"I think women have an amazing capacity for pain," Lara Spencer noted. "It was 11 years ago this morning that I gave birth to my son. Happy birthday to my beautiful baby boy."
Champion quickly added, "There are few times when I'd like to speak for all men, but I'm going to say right now that we hand that to you. We love and appreciate you for doing it."
"I think it should be a dual parent experience," Spencer said. "I love that he shared my pain."
The average labor lasts 12 to 14 hours, but Storm and Zeno only lasted two hours.