Aston Merrygold has opened up about how he felt while his wife was pregnant with their children.
The JLS band member had a candid chat with Giovanna Fletcher on her podcast Happy Mum, Happy Baby, alongside his wife Sarah about their relationship, Sarah’s pregnancies, and their sons Grayson and Macaulay.
Aston revealed he ‘didn’t feel an instant connection’ during Sarah’s pregnancy as he was experiencing it from an outside perspective.
He explained, “That whole pregnancy thing for me, honestly, it sounds really weird, I just didn't know what to do because I was like, well this isn't happening to me- it is- but this isn't happening to me”.
“But it wasn't until the little person pops out and you go, ‘Oh gotcha’”.
Aston continued, “As the dad you just don't feel that instant connection. You're a bit like, ‘This is amazing and I can feel the kicks and this is great”.
“It was an amazing experience but until Grayson arrived, it was just like, I need to make sure Sarah was ok”.
The dad-of-two agreed with Giovanna when she mentioned her husband relied on her to communicate how she was feeling during pregnancy, from kicks and tiredness, to nausea and cravings.
When speaking about his eldest child’s birth, Merrygold revealed he, “Never experienced anything like that”. The singer cut his son’s umbilical cord and as the couple didn't find out the sex of their little one before he arrived, got to announce the gender to his wife before she had skin-to-skin contact with him.
When sharing a clip of the podcast episode to her Instagram, Giovanna wrote, “When you’re the parent that’s not doing the growing, it’s understandable that you might feel a little removed from the situation”.
“Or that you haven’t fully connected to the pregnancy and the changes that are about to happen”, she pointed out.
Many of her followers headed to the comments to share their opinions on this perspective of pregnancy.
One penned, “Really glad Aston has vocalised this. Many partners feel the same”.
“I think this male perspective is so interesting and important to articulate! I think most dads would relate to that surreal disconnection until they're handed a baby, especially for women experiencing really tough pregnancies”, added another fan.
