Is it possible to be pregnant and not know it for 9 months?

Peyton Stover, a 23-year-old teacher from Nebraska, US, delivered her first child 48 hours before learning about her pregnancy.

She was experiencing fatigue, which she believed was related to her work. “I just thought it was normal to be tired all the time,” Stover told KETV. It was when her legs swelled, that she decided to visit the doctor, who found out that a baby was on the way.

As the pregnancy was cryptic, it came with some medical concerns. Stover’s kidneys and livers had stopped functioning properly and doctors had to take immediate measures. Soon, she gave birth to a baby boy, who was born 10 weeks early and weighed four pounds (1.81 kg).

In another case, Klara Dollan, then 22, told Guardian that she woke up with agonising stomach cramps, thinking it was her period. She took some paracetamol on her mother’s advice and went to work.

Hours later, Dollan had given birth by herself in the bathroom of her flat, after being sent home sick from work. The newborn baby girl was completely healthy.

There are many more women who have been through this rare experience, or in a way non-experience, of pregnancy.

Though it sounds bizarre and unbelievable, in some rare cases, it is possible that a woman can be pregnant without knowing about it for months. This phenomenon is called a cryptic pregnancy.

In this case, the mom-to-be might learn that she is expecting a baby as late as the third trimester or when she finally goes into labour. According to a 2011 review, one in 475 women does not realise she is pregnant.

There can be multiple reasons behind a cryptic pregnancy. Some women do not experience the typical signs of being pregnant, such as nausea, missed periods or abdominal swelling. On the other hand, some may experience them but mistake them for their other medical conditions. For example, women who have PCOS may not think of a missed period cycle as a sign of being pregnant.

Other signs like morning sickness can sometimes be mistaken for an upset stomach.

Home pregnancy tests can also sometimes give a false negative due to multiple factors like taking the test too soon, diluted urine etc.

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While we expect a pregnant woman to have an obvious, protruding baby bump, this may not be the case for everyone. Some moms have a fairly small bump which can go unnoticed.

“Women who are very overweight or obese won’t necessarily see the physical changes that a baby is growing inside them, and the extra fat can insulate her from feeling the baby move and kick,” Mary Jane Minkin, clinical professor of ob-gyn at Yale School of Medicine told Women’s Health Mag.

According to a research paper titled “Denial of pregnancy: obstetrical aspects,” there have been cases of cryptic pregnancy when women have felt no fetal movement at all. In other cases of cryptic pregnancies in the early weeks, women may mistake fetal movement as abdominal gas, especially if they have not experienced pregnancy before.

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Cryptic pregnancies can be risky for both the mother and the baby’s health due to lack of conscious medical attention during the course of the pregnancy.

In order to stay healthy during pregnancy and give birth to a healthy child, a woman needs to eat a healthy diet, regulate her activity levels, stop alcohol and smoking and several other such crucial factors need to be taken care of. Lack of knowledge may lead to a miscarriage and increase the risks associated premature birth and unattended delivery.

Not being prepared mentally to give birth to a child can also disturb the new mother’s mental health.