<P> An example of couvade is that the Cantabri people had a custom in which the father, during or immediately after the birth of a child, took to bed, complained of having labour pains, and was accorded the treatment usually shown to women during pregnancy or after childbirth . Similarly, in Papua New Guinea, fathers built a hut outside the village and mimicked the pains of labour until the baby is born . Similar rituals occur in other cultural groups in Thailand, Russia, China and many indigenous groups in the Americas . </P> <P> In some cultures, "sympathetic pregnancy" is attributed to efforts to ward off demons or spirits from the mother or seek favour of supernatural beings for the child . Couvade has been reported by travelers throughout history, including the Greek geographer Strabo (3.4. 17). </P>

The practice of couvade is a reflection of the belief in