Some interesting news is making its way into the Nigerian mainstream media. It’s about how there are ‘fertility hospitals’ that tell women they have cryptic pregnancies up till the day of delivery. On the day of delivery, they give them babies from baby factories. Is this possible? Is there even a thing called cryptic pregnancy? Let’s see in this article.
To start with, a cryptic pregnancy is a medical fact. Women who have cryptic pregnancies do not know that they are pregnant until halfway through or even until labor. Research indicates that 1 in 475 pregnancies go undiscovered until the 20th week and 1 in 2500 up till delivery.
In a cryptic pregnancy, signs like fatigue, nausea, vomiting, missed periods, or abdominal swelling are absent or vague. The lingering question at the back of your mind is how?? Let’s see how.
Causes Of Cryptic Pregnancy
As you would probably expect, there is no single explanation for the cryptic pregnancy phenomenon. However, we have a list of possibilities in this scenario.
First, pregnancy symptoms may be masked in some women. For example, an obese woman may not have a distinct baby bump. It is also possible that a pregnant woman does not experience nausea, pelvic cramping, and low back pain.
Furthermore, irregular menstrual periods can make pregnancy hard to detect. The most common first symptom of pregnancy is a missed period. Hence, irregular periods don’t raise a flag because they are also waved off as normal.
Another occurrence that may mask a pregnancy is intermittent spotting. Women may dismiss this as their regular period. Moreover, symptoms experienced during the menstrual period are very similar to those of pregnancy.
Inaccurate pregnancy test results are another likely scenario. Other possible causes include birth control, recent pregnancy, mental illness, and fertility issues.
What To Do If You Suspect A Cryptic Pregnancy?
See a doctor. If you start to experience symptoms much later in pregnancy, you should begin antenatal care ASAP. A cryptic pregnancy puts both mother and baby in danger because the mother doesn’t receive early antenatal care. Medical conditions, e.g., Hypertension, Diabetes Mellitus, e.t.c that can complicate a pregnancy go unnoticed. Moreover, she may keep taking alcohol and smoking cigarettes because she’s unaware.
These babies tend to have problems such as being born prematurely, overweight, or with congenital malformations.
How To Cope?
It’s very stressful to discover that you are five months pregnant. It’s probably harder to imagine it. That’s why you should seek expert help. You’ll need the support of your family and close friends too.
Back to our headline story, what do we think? Well, it’s possible to sell the story of a cryptic pregnancy up till delivery. The question is, what happens at delivery? A woman has to deliver a baby. Do they tell her she has to get a cesarean section under general anesthesia(the patient is put to sleep)? That makes it easier to bring in any baby. That’s not our place to answer. However, we hope we have answered your questions about cryptic pregnancies.
Reference: Verywellhealth.com
