Can You Be Pregnant and Not Know It?

Quite a few issues may hold a lady from noticing the modifications of their physique:

Fear or stress. The considered changing into a mom is so anxious for some girls that they go into deep denial — so deep that they don’t know they’re pregnant. “Denial is a very powerful defense mechanism, making it possible to talk yourself out of every symptom you may have. The movement in your abdomen is ‘just gas,’ for instance,” Cackovic says.

For instance, a young person could deny or ignore a being pregnant as a result of they don’t need their mother and father to know they’ve had intercourse. A married girl could do the identical as a result of they received pregnant by somebody aside from their companion. Some girls could have a denied being pregnant due to a psychological well being drawback, like bipolar dysfunction or schizophrenia.

No signs. For some girls, the bodily tip-offs of being pregnant, like weight acquire, morning illness, heartburn, or fatigue, don’t occur. Or they’re so delicate {that a} girl simply doesn’t discover them. Depending on their physique kind, “it’s reasonable for a woman to make it to 30 weeks without looking pregnant,” Cackovic says.

Weight modifications. If a lady is obese or their dimension usually goes up and down, they won’t discover the additional child weight. If they’re overweight, Cackovic says, they could not “have the physical feelings of being pregnant” that non-obese girls really feel.

Period issues. A girl can have irregular intervals due to stress, some drugs (like contraception tablets or medication for epilepsy), weight problems, or well being issues like polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), uncontrolled diabetes, or an consuming dysfunction. So when their interval is a no-show, their first thought is probably not being pregnant.

They can’t really feel the infant transfer. Usually a mom-to-be will begin to really feel their child kicking or rolling between 18 to twenty weeks of being pregnant. But if the placenta occurs to be within the entrance of their uterus, they could not really feel these actions, Cackovic says.

Research suggests a well-adjusted girl can have a denied being pregnant and nonetheless go on to be a superb mom, particularly in the event that they’re capable of come to grips with the truth that they’re going to have a child, Cackovic says. For instance, some girls perceive and settle for it once they see an ultrasound picture of their baby. But medical doctors often suggest a psychological well being analysis to determine what precipitated them to disclaim their being pregnant. It’s additionally an essential step to stop baby abuse and neglect, that are extra frequent after denied pregnancies than regular ones.