REPOST: Pregnancy belt' lets dads-to-be feel baby's kicks

One of the most exciting moments in your pregnancy is when you feel those first little flutters of your baby kicking. In this article from Today Moms, dads-to-be also experienced their baby's first kicks.

Image Source: today.com

A new ad featuring fathers-to-be experiencing the kicks of their unborn babies with the help of a “pregnancy belt” is getting lots of buzz online.

The concept is at the center of a video greeting card created by Huggies in Latin America for Father’s Day, said Eric Bruner, a spokesman for Kimberly-Clark, the parent company of the diaper brand.

“We think it’s a new and different way for dads to experience the emotions of pregnancy and it’s certainly worth highlighting in this special time of year,” Bruner told TODAY Moms.

The “pregnancy belt,” which took four months to create and develop, is actually made up of two different bands.

The one worn by the expectant mom contains electronic sensors that detect the baby’s movements in the womb. The signals for those movements are then wirelessly transmitted to band strapped around dad’s belly.

LED lights in the dad’s belt create visual patterns to show where the movement is happening and small motor vibrators, like those in a cell phone, create strong, short impulses to let the father “feel” the baby kick in near-real time.



Video Source: today.com


The video features real couples trying out the belt at a hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Bruner said. Some of the dads in the clip get teary-eyed when they “experience” their babies wiggle, with one of them observing, “He’s moving a lot,” and another man exclaiming, “I can feel him.”

For now, the pregnancy band is one of a kind and was created just for the video, so there are no plans to sell it, though Huggies is evaluating its options about whether to do so in the future, Bruner said.

There’s been an “overwhelmingly positive” reaction to the clip, which the company posted on social media channels on Monday, he added.

“We’re very pleased with the response on this video and the emphasis that it puts on dad’s experience during pregnancy,” Bruner said.


Follow this Twitter page for Dr. Cristian Andronic for more information about the field of obstetrics and gynecology.