Can someone not know they are pregnant? How cryptic pregnancies happen

Not all pregnancies are the same. Sometimes you don’t even know they are happening.

Most people realize they are pregnant somewhere between four and 12 weeks into a pregnancy. However, according to The Cleveland Clinic, 1 in 475 pregnancies go unnoticed until 20 weeks into pregnancy, and 1 in 2,500 pregnancies go unnoticed until the baby is delivered.

These are called cryptic or stealth pregnancies. That’s when someone who is pregnant doesn’t realize it for a variety of reasons.

There are lots of factors that could lead to getting pregnant without knowing it, particularly if your monthly cycle is not normal or is interrupted.

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Some things that could increase the risk of not realizing you are pregnant include:

• Having irregular periods.
• Having a condition that causes a hormonal imbalance, such as PCOS or perimenopause.
• Breastfeeding — it can take several months for a person’s period to return after giving birth, and it’s difficult to predict when you are fertile again while breastfeeding.

There are other reasons why someone would not think they are pregnant:

• They don’t get morning sickness.
• They continue to bleed because of implantation bleeding or abnormal pregnancy bleeding, which can lead someone to think they are getting their period.
• They get a false negative on an at-home pregnancy test.
• They have a tilted uterus or strong abdominal muscles, which can prevent a noticeable baby bump.
• If you have what is called an anterior placenta. This is a placenta that is in the front of the belly, which can make it harder to feel the baby moving.

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According to The Cleveland Clinic, cryptic pregnancies could lead to pre-term birth because the mother has not taken prenatal steps to care for the fetus. That could include something as simple as taking prenatal vitamins, or not smoking or drinking while pregnant, it can also include regular exams and genetic tests.

A mother with a cryptic pregnancy may also be at higher risk of medical conditions like gestational diabetes, or preeclampsia.

The fetus, meanwhile, is at greater risk for congenital conditions or birth disorders.

The Cleveland Clinic says that if you are sexually active, it’s important to know the signs of a pregnancy so you can detect it as early as possible. The clinic lists these five early signs of pregnancy on its website.

1. Missing your period or not having a period
2. Nausea and vomiting
3. Breast tenderness or breasts that swell in size
4. Urinating more frequently
5. Being severely exhausted or fatigued