Discovering a pregnancy after 30 weeks: a qualitative study on explanations for unperceived pregnancy

Abstract

“Unperceived pregnancy” names the phenomenon when a person becomes pregnant unintentionally and is not aware of being pregnant. Scientific explanations are roughly based on two hypotheses: psychological and physiological. We aim to gain a better understanding of unperceived pregnancy by studying the perspectives of people who experienced an unperceived pregnancy and obstetric professionals. Seventeen semi-structured interviews were conducted: eight with women who had experienced an unperceived pregnancy (≥30 weeks’ gestation), six with midwives, and three with gynecologists. Our findings show that women’s explanations for not noticing their pregnancy center around the absence of pregnancy symptoms. The failure to recognize more subtle signs of pregnancy was enforced by inattention, physical distractions, and psychological factors. In contrast, psychological explanations are dominant among obstetric professionals. Our study demonstrates a discrepancy in the explanations provided by women who had experienced an unperceived pregnancy and obstetric professionals. Potentially, this could result in people being unheard and misunderstood. We recommend that future research moves beyond a focus on “denial of pregnancy” to consider both psychological and physiological factors, and how these could potentially interrelate. This broadened approach will enhance our understanding of unperceived pregnancy and can contribute to improved counseling by obstetric professionals.

Keywords:

• Unperceived pregnancy
• denial of pregnancy
• cryptic pregnancy
• late discovery of pregnancy
• obstetric professionals

Acknowledgements

We are thankful to all of the participants for sharing their stories.

Disclosure statement

The manuscript is comprised of original material that is not under review elsewhere. The authors have no competing interests – intellectual or financial – in the research detailed in the manuscript.

Notes

1 We use “pregnant person” to include women and transgender and non-binary people who can become pregnant.

2 https://fiom.nl/ongewenst-zwanger/late-ontdekking-zwangerschap-komt-echt-voor

Additional information

Funding

Fiom is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sports. The ministry exerted no influence on the contents of this article.