While it's well-known many pregnant women and new mums experience 'baby brain' - characterised by forgetfulness, absent-mindedness, poor concentration, brain fog and general 'mumnesia' - there is currently no identified equivalent for their partners.
Sure, lack of sleep as a new parent may contribute to some of the symptoms, but in heterosexual relationships at least, exasperating behaviour by dad is typically, well, just that.
One expecting mum encountered such behaviour when she saw the items her partner had panickedly packed in her hospital bag, 33 weeks into the pregnancy. Sharing her disbelief in a now-viral clip to TikTok, Holly Bolton went through the contents of the bag with her followers, jokingly asking them to rate how well he did at picking the essentials.
"Rate the hospital bag my boyfriend packed for me [at] 33 weeks pregnant - he tried his best," wrote Bolton, a nutritionist and radiography student.
For context, a hospital bag typically should contain essentials for labour and postnatal; think toiletries, medicines, comfortable clothes, sleepwear, maternity bras and pads, snacks, chargers, and of course, clothes, blanket and other basics for bub - the list goes on.
Bolton's hospital bag, however, contained a toothbrush; an empty tube of toothpaste; trackpants "in a 33 degree heatwave"; deodorant; face wipes; a contact lens case but no solution; and old G-strings.
"[There's also] his clothes - at least I have shorts and old thongs, which are too small," Bolton added.
Her boyfriend's sweet but ill-considered attempt at picking the essentials gobsmacked viewers, many of whom shared their own shocking experiences with a partner's packing.
"My husband packed me a denim mini skirt to leave the hospital - there was no way it was gonna fit. It was also [winter]!" one shared.
"He packed exactly how he would if he was travelling," a second joked.
In clear disbelief, another viewer commented: "Thongs? You're joking, right? I'd tell him to get out of his boxers right then and there."
A fourth pointed out: "Does he not have a smartphone? He couldn't just Google what to pack?"
"The bar is underground at this point," another deadpanned.
After seeing the influx of comments critiquing her partner's efforts, Bolton rushed to his defence and reiterated that he had packed the bag in a panic.
"Guys, he was panicking okay. He left work, rushed home, and tried to get to me as quickly as possible," she clarified.
The video has amassed almost two million views since Bolton shared it earlier this week.
In a clip shared prior to Bolton's now-viral video, the mum-to-be shared the details of the scare that led to her partner's panicked attempt to pack her belongings at a moment's notice - urging other expecting women to take her experience as a sign to prepare their own hospital bags well in advance.
"Take this as your sign to pack that hospital bag," Bolton wrote, alongside footage of her in a hospital bed.
"Thirty-three weeks. Came in with on and off cramping and back pains. Had a positive foetal fibronectin test, meaning an increased chance of pre-term labour. Now in for two nights for monitoring and steroid shots to help baby girl's lungs."
In an update shared the following day, Bolton confirmed her baby daughter is "staying put" for now and hopefully won't arrive until her due date on October 1.
"After two nights of monitoring, baby girl is looking healthy," she said. "[I] have an urgent growth scan on Wednesday as my bump is now measuring small and [has] not grown since [the] last measurement."
