Covada

The covada (from the French couver, 'incubate') is a custom present in certain cultures by which the mother, during the birth of a son or immediately afterwards, gives the bed to the father. Sometimes it consisted of the mother giving the baby to the father so that he could take care of it. In many societies, the social function of the covada is to reaffirm the role or legitimacy of the father. It is usually associated with matrilineal societies.

Covada involves the father engaging in the same behavior as his wife during or near labor, including pain, subsequent seclusion, dietary restrictions, and sexual taboos.

According to Johann Jakob Bachofen (author of the first systematic monograph on matriarchy), covada has its origin in the transition from primitive matriarchal to patriarchal societies. Men tried to conquer power, which for religious reasons (worship of female deities, and telluric religions), was in female hands. To do this, they pretended to be women, and from there the custom of the covada was born, according to the evolutionary hypothesis of this author.

This custom, practiced by some peoples, especially from South America and New Guinea, was also found in Europe among Asturians, Cantabrians, Basques, Maragatos, Ibizans and Corsicans. In fact, it is believed that today there are vestiges of this custom in Europe, there are even those who consider that a new form of covada would appear in Western societies when men accompany pregnant women to the obstetrician and attend birth preparation courses with them and at the time of delivery.

The covada today

In the last thirty years there has been a substantial modification in the way of "parenting." At the end of the sixties he broke with the pattern of the distant and merely symbolic father, to take a greater role in raising his children. There are more and more fathers who, from the moment of conception, closely accompany the pregnancy, fully experiencing the "covada."

Scientists have observed that changes do occur in men, both physically and psychologically and emotionally, which show that they are neither neutral nor unrelated to pregnancy. In summary we could say that the modern practice of covada in today's society serves:

• The childbecause it means that the father becomes present from the beginning and incorporates him into his first sensations and experiences. It allows the establishment of the first emotional bonds, which are the foundations, with both parents and not only with the mother.

• To the father, because it allows the internal elaboration that requires its transformation into “father”.

• To the motherbecause the near presence of the father means irreplaceable support, containment and guarantee of the future, providing a balanced relationship with his motherhood.

In Spanish legislation

In Spain, Organic Law 3/2007, of March 22, for the effective equality of women and men, established a set of measures to favor and promote the reconciliation of personal, family and work life. The most innovative measure of the law is "paternity leave of thirteen days' duration, extendable in the case of multiple births by two more days for each son or daughter after the second." It is established that "this is an individual and exclusive right of the father, which is recognized both in cases of biological paternity and in cases of adoption and foster care."

In the interest of a positive policy towards the figure of the father, which encourages the involvement of men in family responsibilities, this Law proposes the extension of the paternity period to four weeks, exclusively for the father. In the additional provisions, the Government is urged to, within the framework of its powers and in agreement with the autonomous communities and social agents, carry out awareness campaigns with the aim of raising awareness of the new rights that citizens will be able to enjoy. parents and encourage the equal distribution of family responsibilities between the father and the mother, as well as to present annually to the Cortes Generales a statistical monitoring of the measures introduced to know their social impact.