No nausea and no baby bump: a model says she didn’t know about her pregnancy until she gave birth

Australian model Erin Langmaid tells newspapers and TV that she realized she was pregnant, just 10 minutes before giving birth to her daughter Isla in her bathroom.

Sounds like a ” I didn’t know I was pregnant ” story . Of those you always ask yourself: “but is it true?” , “How is it possible?”

Stories that are truly paradoxical but that can, it seems, really happen.

If we look at the Instagram profile of the 23-year-old model, in the 37 weeks that preceded the “surprise birth”, we don’t find any particular changes in her body, even if, looking closely, they are images that always tend not to highlight the waistline.

No noticeable bumps, no tight clothing issues, no nausea, that’s what she told Australian media.

So the recent post published on her profile caused a sensation, where she and her partner are seen holding their daughter, Isla, a beautiful newborn just a few days old.

“The hardest week of our lives,” wrote Langmaid.

It is a case of ” invisible pregnancy ” or ” cryptic pregnancy “, as a gestation that is not recognized is called and affects about 1 in 2500 women.

The invisible pregnancy

The story that the model shared is an extreme case of a rare, but well-known phenomenon, that of the “invisible” pregnancy.

One study estimates that 1 in about 2,500 women aren’t aware they’re carrying a baby until it’s time for labor, while 1 in 475 aren’t aware they’re pregnant until 20 weeks. But research on the subject is still limited.

Probably many of you have heard of the television program “I didn’t know I was pregnant!”, an American format that has often frightened even our female readers.

They are all stories of women who didn’t realize they were pregnant until they went into labour.   Almost all the stories told featured women who continued to menstruate as usual during pregnancy, while others were women who had long-term amenorrhea due to polycystic ovary problems, or other conditions associated with infertility.

The women involved often saw no difference in waistline (often starting from an overweight condition) or did not experience classic  pregnancy symptoms such as weight gain, nausea or breast tenderness.

Many of these female protagonists of the program, once they gave birth, realized that there had been some signs of pregnancy that they had ignored.

How is it possible not to realize that you are pregnant?

For those who have been pregnant, it seems impossible not to realize that they are pregnant. According to the obstetricians featured in the TV show, depending on the position of the placenta , the sensations related to the baby’s movements can be very minimal. This happens especially in the case of an anteriorly positioned placenta.

The causes of medically cryptic pregnancies can be caused by: either the actual absence of symptoms, or psychological problems.

For example, some women who deny pregnancy are mentally incapable of accepting pregnancy, in some cases they are trafficked in women with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia.

The consequences of an unrecognized pregnancy

The main problem with a cryptic pregnancy is the lack of prenatal care. A woman who is unaware of her pregnancy may in fact adopt unhealthy lifestyles, which can cause damage to the development of the child.

A cryptic pregnancy also does not allow the pregnant woman, and the couple in general, to prepare themselves emotionally for parenthood.

Erin Langmaid’s birthing story

Isla, Erin Langmaid’s baby, according to the Australian media was born with a weight of 3.6 kg, thanks to a very fast labor.

However , the story of the birth made by the couple to the broadcaster 7 News is dramatic.

Erin’s partner Carty heard the woman’s screams and rushed to the bathroom to find her with Isla. The emergency phone call documents the shock of the young parents, with the child having difficulty breathing.

Everything then ended well, Isla after the first moments of panic, is now perfectly fine.