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Free sessions are held twice a week at Aima maternity
hospital in Shandong province and about 100 men have signed up
to be tortured. Most are expectant dads but there are thrill
seekers too among the volunteers for "taster sessions".
For the simulations, pads attached to a device are placed above
the abdomen, giving electric shocks that induce pain. The test
subjects writhe in agony for up to five minutes as a nurse
gradually raises the intensity on a scale of one to ten.
Song Siling, who is trying for a baby with his girlfriend, shut
his eyes and grimaced as the needle on the electrode monitor
inched forward with a beep.
"It felt like my heart and lungs were being ripped apart," said
Song, who made it to level seven before frantically waving to
the nurse to turn off the system. Others dropped out within
minutes when they couldn't take the pain.
Despite their obvious discomfort, the on-duty nurse said the
simulations could never match the torment of actual childbirth.
"Still, if men can experience this pain, then they'll be more
loving and caring to their wives," said Lou Dezhu.
Wu Jianlong, who braved the pain right up to level 10, says the
experience radically altered his views on childbirth.
"Because all women have children and it usually takes quite a
long time, I had thought of it as being something really
natural, something really normal that they can get through," he
said.
Wu, whose wife is three months pregnant, yelled in pain and
clenched his fists before giving in and begging the nurse to
stop - he had reached the maximum limit by then.
Unlike in the West, Chinese men are often not in the room when
their partners or wives give birth. Some state-run hospitals do
not allow expectant dads to enter, even if they want to.
(Writing by Tony Tharakan; Editing by Nick Macfie)
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