Hidden pregnancy is an extremely rare condition. Because, as everyone knows, the clearest indicator of pregnancy is the slowly growing abdomen, which is an important detail for understanding pregnancy.
Here, when it comes to hidden pregnancy, there may be no swelling in the abdomen. Also, some people may not gain much weight until later in their pregnancy. All these can cause it to be understood as if there is no pregnancy, even if there is a pregnancy. So what should be considered in order to understand such a situation?
People who experience this condition may not even suspect them if they experience pregnancy fatigue, morning sickness, irregular menstruation, spotting underwear, or nausea.
Thus, the person does not question “Am I pregnant?” and does not go to the doctor’s examination. When you think about it, it might sound absurd for someone not to realize they’re pregnant. For example, 1 out of 475 pregnancies cannot be understood during the 20-week (five-month) period. Again, one in 2,500 pregnancies may go undetected until the moment of birth. In other words, when you do the ratio-proportion calculation, you can see that the rate of incidence in the general population is very low, as we said at the beginning.
In fact, the primary cause of this condition is hormones.
For example, if a woman has recently given birth, it may take time for her hormones to return to normal. In this process, the person may start to ovulate again due to hormonal imbalance and this may result in a hidden pregnancy. Again, if the person is close to menopause, this may be a pregnancy, as this will cause hormonal irregularity in the woman.
In the simplest way, having unprotected sex can also cause this situation. For example, stress is a condition that disrupts the natural symptoms of pregnancy. The presence of ovarian cysts, which we call polycystic ovary syndrome, can also enable pregnancy to occur in this way.
If we want to look at the psychological reasons that reveal this situation, we can give an example of the person’s rejection of pregnancy. Even if the woman shows all the physiological signs of pregnancy, she does not go and have her routine check-ups because she does not accept this situation mentally. Thus, until the moment of birth, he cannot be psychologically aware of this situation.
If we go back to the hormone issue, a woman who has a pregnancy test may have a negative test result just because the hormone hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin/a hormone that supports the normal development of eggs in a woman’s ovaries) is low. In other words, even just because of the test result, a person can experience a hidden pregnancy. If the individual uses various drugs, maybe this situation may have affected the level of the hCG hormone, so the result is misleading.
However, another detail that affects the negative pregnancy test is that the person tests very early after experiencing a missed period. In general, doctors consider it appropriate to take the test after a week after a missed period to check the accuracy of the result. In addition, doing the test when you wake up in the morning gives more effective results. Even if the person does the tests wrong, he or she should definitely consult a doctor and express the suspicion of pregnancy, but those who suffer from this situation usually do not do this.
Well, the baby is not noticed on ultrasound? How is it that the woman’s pregnancy is not understood?
Between the 10th and 13th weeks of pregnancy, the mother’s abdomen is examined with ultrasound to check the baby. Because it is not possible to detect the heartbeat on ultrasound before the 7th week of pregnancy, the baby is expected to grow a little. Of course, it is also important in this case that the person knows when he is pregnant. Let’s say, if the woman got pregnant earlier than she expected, she may encounter the situation where the baby’s heartbeat is not seen when she goes to the ultrasound.
However, this is not the only reason. For example, the embryo may not have settled where it would normally settle in the uterus, and may stay in a place that is difficult to see. The shape and structure of the uterus can also hide the embryo. We can explain this situation as follows: Normally, while the belly of a pregnant woman grows outward, in those who experience this situation, the uterus grows inward so that there is no swelling in the abdomen. Those who suffer from this condition may not protrude much, for example, even if they are 4 months pregnant. All of these are the conditions that cause the baby to go undetected on ultrasound.
If the person has had an ultrasound of the abdomen and is experiencing an early pregnancy, this may cause the child not to be seen. According to experts, in cases where this type of early pregnancy is suspected, ultrasound done through the vagina gives more accurate results. In short, these factors can cause a woman to think, “I guess I’m not pregnant,” even if she suspects she is pregnant. However, in this case, the individual will not have to worry as the doctors will obtain the most accurate result by requesting various tests.
Studies show that babies born from hidden pregnancy are weaker and more likely to be born prematurely. In cases where this situation is not noticed at all, the person may even have to give birth alone.
For this reason, even if the woman does not suspect that she is pregnant, she should take the symptoms of heartburn, bloating, vomiting, back pain, nausea, migraine, menstrual irregularity, changes in appetite and taste, which are actually pregnancy symptoms, seriously and consult a specialist. In short, the fact that the abdomen does not grow as expected does not mean that the person does not have a developing baby.
Editor’s Note: Not every woman who has an enlarged belly and shows pregnancy symptoms will become pregnant. In this case, the only authorities to apply are doctors. You should not diagnose yourself without consulting a doctor.
- Sources: Very Well Health, Flo Health
- Image Sources: Parents, The New York Times, FIFARMA, Cloud Nine Care, Shape, Longreads, Prevention
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