Several pregnant women were finally able to gain some sympathy after their partners were offered the chance to experience the pain of childbirth at a hospital in eastern China, Reuters reported.

After various women came forward to make complaints about how their partners were less then sympathetic during their times of pregnancy, the hospital decided to give the fathers-to-be a chance to experience the entire process.

With free sessions being provided twice a week at Aima maternity hospital in Shandong province, about 100 men have willingly signed up to experience the joys of torture. While a majority of the males are expectant fathers, some thrill seekers have also volunteered to participate for "taster sessions."

In the procedure, a device, which is attached to a pad for simulations, is wrapped around the male's abdomen, giving him electric shocks that induce pain. After the subject writhe in agony for up to five minutes, a nurse gradually begins to raise the intensity on a scale of one to ten.

Song Siling, who is trying for a baby with his girlfriend, shut his eyes and grimaced as the needle on the electrode monitor inched forward with a beep, according to NBC News.

"It felt like my heart and lungs were being ripped apart," said Song, who made it to level seven before frantically waving to the nurse to turn off the system. A few others reportedly dropped out within minutes after not being able to handle the excruciating pain.

But according to the on-duty nurse, even the simulations were not representative of the actual pain and torment that pregnant women experience during childbirth.

"Still, if men can experience this pain, then they'll be more loving and caring to their wives," said Lou Dezhu.

Wu Jianlong, who braved the pain right up to level 10, said the experience radically altered his views on childbirth. "Because all women have children and it usually takes quite a long time, I had thought of it as being something really natural, something really normal that they can get through," he said.

"Unlike in the West, Chinese men are often not in the room when their partners or wives give birth. Some state-run hospitals do not allow expectant dads to enter, even if they want to," Reuters reported.