Women Who Don't Know They Are Expecting

Are you expecting? When did you first know? At this stage of your pregnancy, you have probably experienced multiple pregnancy symptoms. Missing period, bloated, nausea, growing belly and frequent urination – a lot of these signs are hard to miss.

But for Chilean Olympic weightlifter Elizabeth Poblete, any one of these symptoms she may have experienced did not suggest to her that she could be pregnant. So on December 8th when she began to feel sick during weight training, it didn’t occur to her that she may be in labor. Shortly thereafter, Elizabeth gave birth to a baby weighing just over 2 pounds. Mother and son were both taken to a hospital. The baby boy, named Eric Jose, was about three months premature. He remained in intensive care, the BBC reported.

Sadly the baby passed away a few days after being admitted to the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit. Amazingly, just a week before, Elizabeth Poblete had competed in a National Competition.

Female athletes are known to have missed or irregular periods. Their weight often fluctuates as well, making weight gain or loss a normal occurrence during training. And if the baby kicks lightly, fluttering may be misconstrued as gas or stomach cramps.

Many stories have circulated about women giving birth without having known they were pregnant. As you eat your saltines, you may be thinking, “How could that be possible?” Yet for some, the birth of a child was reported to be a complete surprise.

There are a few explanations as to why a woman might not realize she is pregnant. If her fetus is small and sits near the back of the womb she may not feel a baby kicking. A mother who recently gave birth might believe her missed period and swollen breasts are simply postpartum symptoms. Obese women might not notice they are showing, while active women may “rev up” their exercise program as they see the scales begin to climb.

Pregnancy tests can give a false negative, making a woman certain she is not expecting. And women who use birth control might be too confident in the accuracy of their particular method to believe they are pregnant.

Have you known anyone who was surprised at their new found pregnancy? Or were you pleasantly surprised yourself?