A man explores pregnancy

Father-to-be and RT Doc correspondent, Miguel Francis-Santiago conducts a two-week experiment,  he plans to walk in his wife, Kristina’s shoes in a bid to understand how pregnancy really feels. To do that, he dons a heavy tummy-suit in which he’ll work, drive, do household chores and even sleep. Miguel is determined to strive to replicate what women have to go through before childbirth. 

Cleverly capitalising on his new ‘delicate state’, Miguel claims maternity leave from RT Doc so he and his wife can deal with the challenges of pregnancy together. Miguel has to get used to living as an expecting mother: learning to work round his new physical limitations. He keeps to a special diet, but does occasionally give in to cravings! He also has to handle his own mood swings. Miguel’s eager to know if his sincere attempt to embrace pregnancy will affect his hormones but whatever happens, he hopes to come away with some valuable experience and wonders how his two weeks might change him.

One thing is certain: Miguel is going further than most men to find out what it takes for a woman to bring a baby into the world.  Whatever surprises he may face, it’s too late to bail out. Heavily pregnant Miguel needs to prove to himself he can do it. Luckily for him, Miguel won’t actually go as far as to experience childbirth. Still, after being “pregnant” for two weeks, he wants to be there, with his wife, when his child is born, a practice that is, surprisingly, still not very common in Russian maternity hospitals, where many anxious fathers opt to pace the corridors outside the delivery room rather than step inside. Miguel comes prepared: he even takes a basic midwifery course so he can assist with the delivery if needed. Only at the end do we meet the true hero of the film, one new arrival who makes the difficult journey worthwhile for Miguel and Kristina.