LABOUR OF LOVE
Heart Radio DJ JK rolls around in agony as he streams his reaction to the pain of childbirth on Facebook
Jason King is expecting his second child with his wife Charlie O'Brien in four months time
HEART London radio DJ JK featured in a Facebook Live Male Labour today - in preparation for wife Charlie O'Brien's own birth in four months time.
Using two TENS machines - which are said to stimulate the feeling of childbirth for anyone not in labour - Charlie, 35, wired up husband Jason King, 42, to see how he could deal with 20 minutes of contractions.
4
4
4
Within 15 minutes of "on and off" fake contractions the DJ was rolling around in agony claiming "I'm done now, I feel like I'm being chopped in half, I can hardly breathe, how do you breathe?"
Vlogger and broadcaster Charlie has already been through a natural birth once with two-year-old son Noah, and admits she is dreading the thought of going through a second birth.
She says: "I had no painkillers for my first baby, just gas and air, but I felt like my body was splitting in two.
"I just don't think Jay gets it, if he has a cold it's like he's got man flu.
"Labour gives you that feeling of empowerment, but it is also the most pain you will ever experience."
MOST READ IN NEWS
The 20 minute video, aired on ChannelMum Facebook Live, has already been viewed hundreds of times by women wanting men to empathise with what they go through during childbirth.
Following two devastating missed miscarriages and a period of infertility, the couple who met while presenting for Heart radio finally had son Noah, and are now expecting a baby girl.
Charlie explains why the couple wanted to volunteer for the ‘male labour’ on behalf of ChannelMum’s pregnancy week: “I genuinely wanted Jay to experience a degree of the discomfort us ladies go through.
"I actually felt quite stressed watching Jay in so much pain, although I was also laughing.
"It’s interesting to be on the other side.
"I think labour is also hard on partners, watching someone they love in so much pain. Although obviously it was nowhere near as bad as the real thing.
"It has made me more nervous about going through my labour in four months’ time.
"But I’m lucky because I know Jay will be a wonderful birthing partner again."
4
Jason experienced "back to back" style contractions, as the TENS machine on his back contributed to feelings of a “train running over me” and “a plug being re-wired wrong”.
By the end of the experience, the award winning DJ was quick to commend all mums, saying: "I have total respect for women and mothers.
"I know deep down that although my experience was painful, I didn’t feel fraction of what real labour pain is like.
“I won’t be repeating that experience any time soon.
"It was almost as bad as when I tore my cruciate ligament playing football in 2002."
ChannelMum.com founder Siobhan Freegard said: "Filming your labour on Facebook Live is one of the fastest growing trends for young mums - so we thought it was time for dads to get involved too.
"As the experiment showed, there's an awful lot of women who feel frustrated their partner didn't recognise how gruelling and exhausting labour can me.
"As every mum knows there's nothing like labour pains and for a partner to experience it, even for a few minutes, gives both parties even greater understanding and respect."
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368
Topics