Sometimes, a woman may not realise that she is pregnant. Of course, this may lead to raised eyebrows and ‘behind the back’ sniggers. But this is a very real condition that even conventional medical pregnancy testing methods may fail to detect. This is what is commonly known as cryptic pregnancy. Sometimes it is also called stealth pregnancy. You may sometimes be pregnant for 6, 7 or even 8 months and still be unaware of your condition. This can be quite confusing and scary, right? But given the right information, you may just be able to catch your symptoms.
Symptoms of cryptic pregnancy
Usually, a missed period is the first indication of pregnancy. If this happens, you may undertake a home pregnancy test. If the result shows positive, you will undergo further urine and blood test. You may also get an ultrasound done to confirm the pregnancy. Other symptoms of pregnancy may be tender and swollen breasts, intense mood swings, unnatural fatigue and nausea. But in cryptic pregnancy none of these symptoms show. Even a pregnancy test may come back negative. And because of this, you may think your early pregnancy nausea is nothing more than indigestion. It is also possible that if you have fluctuating hormones, you may experience slight bleeding, which resembles a period. So it is easy to be misled here.
You may have some symptoms like nausea, fatigue and weight gain. But because the tests show negative, you just ignore them. Moreover, if your periods are not very regular to start with, it adds to the confusion. As your pregnancy progresses, you may feel some fetal movements, but even then, tests may show up as negative. Sometimes, low levels of pregnancy hormones may also mean that your symptoms are mild and easy to miss.
Causes of cryptic pregnancy
There are many factors that may be responsible for cryptic pregnancy. Medical conditions like polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is one such factor. If you suffer from this condition, you may have low fertility and hormonal imbalances. You may also experience irregular periods. Another cause may be perimenopause. Pregnancy symptoms like weight gain and hormone fluctuations are similar to perimenopause symptoms. Moreover, some people are confident that if they use birth control pills and intrauterine devices (IUDs), they are safe from pregnancy, no matter what. But accidents do happen. Another reason why people miss their pregnancy may be very low body fat and too much athletic activity, which can cause periods to disappear for months at a time. This makes it difficult to detect a pregnancy.
Danger of this condition
You are cut off from prenatal care. This is the biggest danger of cryptic pregnancy. The chance of premature delivery increases, and your baby may also have a low birth weight. If you have any pregnancy symptoms, however mild, you need to visit a good doctor and get answers to your questions even if you test negative. If you get cramps for no reason and have been suffering from mild pregnancy symptoms, call a doctor immediately or get emergency care.