A phenomenon that is becoming more and more frequent, the denial of a pregnancy affects approximately 3000 French women each year. Still known as unconscious pregnancy, it sometimes lasts until the last month of delivery. However, in order to better understand this phenomenon, it is important to find out what it really is and how it happens. Apart from that, it is important to know the symptoms related to it and the possibility that such a situation happens only by thinking about it. Learn all about unconscious pregnancy in this article.
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Denial of pregnancy: what is it?
Pregnancy-related denial is a psychological fact by which a woman finds herself pregnant without realizing it. In other words, some women can be pregnant and be completely unaware that they are. This means that the woman does not notice any change in her menstrual cycle. Invisible or unconscious pregnancy usually manifests itself in two ways. It can be :
- Partial: in this case, the woman notices the presence of a fetus in her uterus from 14 weeks of pregnancy until term (about 42 weeks);
- Total: in this case, the woman does not realize her condition until the date she is due to give birth.
On the other hand, according to statistics, out of every 500 women who want to give birth, there is at least one who has had an unconscious pregnancy.
How does this happen?
Unconscious pregnancy is a psychological problem that can happen to a woman, regardless of her age, as long as she is not menopausal. It can happen in the first, second or third pregnancy, even if the previous ones went well. Although denial can happen to any woman, there are certain conditions that favor it. An invisible pregnancy can occur when a woman :
- Has already had a miscarriage, a termination for medical reasons or a premature delivery;
- Has had too many simultaneous deliveries;
- Has been a victim of rape.
In addition to these reasons, the woman may have been declared infertile by her doctors. On the other hand, a woman who adopts a contraceptive method may become pregnant without realizing it. By adopting a product for cognitive health, it is possible to avoid this problem of pregnancy denial.
What about the symptoms associated with it?
What makes invisible pregnancy special is thatit is not accompanied by any symptoms, unlike a normal or conscious pregnancy. Thus:
- You have a flow of blood on the date of your period: it may be a false period that will not allow you to suspect that there is fertilization;
- You do not feel any nausea;
- Your breasts do not undergo any changes and are not painful as at the beginning of a pregnancy;
- The movements of the child in the uterus may be similar to digestive disorders or imperceptible;
- You do not experience frequent fatigue, unusual sleepiness or a regular urge to urinate.
The most surprising phenomenon during an unconscious pregnancy is that the woman’s sale does not increase in size. In short, there are no symptoms that would allow the woman to realize that she is in denial of a pregnancy.
Is it possible to experience pregnancy denial when you think about it?
The phenomenon of an invisible pregnancy seems unlikely, because it is a moment in which the woman’s body changes completely. Thus, when denial occurs, scientists consider it as a kind of barrier that the woman builds to protect herself from the anxieties related to the pregnancy process.
It is therefore a psychological protection technique for women who are afraid of pregnancy or becoming mothers. However, although it is psychological, it is not possible to have an invisible pregnancy just because you have thought about it. In fact, thinking about it without having sex obviously can’t make you pregnant. However, when you regularly think about the fear of pregnancy, it can happen to you if you have sex.
