“I wish we could fling ourselves like that without pulling a ligament or muscle.”
One of life’s frustrations is the fact that so many people in the world will never understand just how painful pregnancy and birth really are.
Taking a step to address this, an Australian man on TikTok attempted to stimulate the pain and discomfort of being pregnant in a now viral video.
Maitland Hanley, or @maitlandhanley, enlitsted his friends to help strap a watermelon to his belly, as well as two cantaloupes to his chest in a bid to approximate the body of a heavily pregnant woman.
From there, he attempts to go about his daily life, but is thwarted when he finds himself unable to get out of bed, due to the weight of the fruit.
His friends can be heard off camera pretending to be an alarm clock, waking him up for the day.
Maitland confidently stares down the camera and says: “Oh yeah? Watch this.”
@maitlandhanleyMan tries being pregnant for a day ? ##fyp ##watermelonchallenge ##watermelonbaby ##pregnantbelly ##pregnantman♬ Oliver Twist – ArrDee
You can then see him come to the realisation that life as a pregnant person is not as easy as he might have thought.
He makes multiple attempts to rise from the bed, but is ultimately unsuccessful, and struggles to even sit up.
In the comments, one mum felt that he had it easy. She wrote: “I wish we could fling ourselves like that without pulling a ligament or muscle.”
It’s important to note here that Maitland only simulates the sensation of having concentrated weight on his upper body. His attempt to “experience” pregnancy falls short of simulating a litany of side effects including, but certainly not limited to, nausea, constipation, gas, hemorrhoids, swelling, fatigue and yeast infections.
@maitlandhanleyPregnant man getting Maccas cravings ##fyp ##watermelonchallenge ##pregnantbelly ##pregnancycravings ##pregnancycravingsbelike ##maccas♬ SIX’FO – ZaeHD & CEO
He did, however, in a follow-up video indulge in his cravings and, once he got the hang of walking with a watermelon strapped to him, swung by a MacDonalds.
After collecting his food, he swaggered around the restaurant and told other customers that he had “pregnancy cravings”, and said hello to his “fellow mums”.
