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Being Pregnant Unnoticed Hundreds of births a year without warning
If a woman is pregnant, not only is the stomach getting bigger, but usually she also suffers from the typical nausea and a tugging in the breasts. In addition, the menstrual period remains off. So it can be that a pregnancy goes unnoticed? Yes, it can, experts know.
Some women do not notice their pregnancy
In pregnant women gradually the tummy and the body weight increases. In addition, the period remains off and it comes to the known pregnancy sickness. Sensitive breasts and a pleasant feeling of warmth are further signs of pregnancy. With all the physical evidence of a new life growing up in the body, can not the affected woman realize that she is pregnant? It can be and is not even as rare as expected. In a message from the news agency dpa experts explain important to the topic.
Although expectant mothers get bigger and bigger tummy and show typical signs of nausea, some women do not realize they are pregnant. (Image: Photographee.eu/fotolia.com) "Gravitas suppressalis" is more common than expected
When a baby suddenly arrives - without warning or preparation - reports are causing a stir. But the "gravitas suppressalis", the suppressed pregnancy, is more common than thought, says Berlin gynecologist and psychotherapist Peter Rott. According to the physician, one in every 500 pregnant women is unaware of their other condition - in Germany, that's about 1,300 per year. In 270 of them, therefore, the pregnancy is determined even at birth. "A repressed pregnancy is when the woman does not notice it until week 20," says Rott. A pregnancy usually lasts 40 weeks - the affected person is therefore at least half the time unaware that they expect a child.
Repressed and denied pregnancies
Distinguish between repressed and denied pregnancies. "The difference is in the perception of the woman," explains the gynecologist. According to the expert, the feelings of a repressed pregnancy are completely subconscious, while in the denied form the woman realizes that she is expecting a child. "But she pushes it away." According to Rott, neither repression nor denial consciously happen. "We approach painful events only gradually or not at all," explains the psychotherapist. A defense against an internal conflict is completely natural. "We all know that." Unfulfillable conflicts are deported to the subconscious. In pregnant women, the inner conflict usually arises from the life situation in which no child fits.
So far the most comprehensive study in Germany
As the dpa report states, the most comprehensive study in Germany on unconscious pregnancies in 2002 was published by the German physicians Jens Wessel and Ulrich Büscher of the Berlin Humboldt University in the journal "British Medical Journal". There were 62 cases of women who knew nothing about their pregnancy at least until the 20th week, studied for a year. According to the information, in 25 of them the pregnancy was not detected until the contractions had already started. As the authors reported, the view that repressed pregnancies are rare is inappropriate.
The typical pregnancy transgression does not exist
According to the expert, the typical pregnancy suppressant does not exist. In general, the problem is that of all strata and age groups, although a greater tendency has been noted for very young women and women at an age when they no longer expect to conceive. "This stands out statistically but not out," says Rott. It is usually not true that the pregnancy is the result of a one-night stand: "80 percent of women are in a solid partner relationship." And about half of the women had been previously even once or several times pregnant.
Round stomach and nausea: "One can reinterpret everything"
But how can it be that, despite the round belly, the nausea and the absence of the period, women do not realize that they are pregnant? "You can reinterpret everything," says Rott. Thus, movements of the child are perceived as Bauchgrimmen, a weight gain attributed to a poor diet. And women who have irregular bleeding anyway, have no worries that menstruation will stop. "We talk about all things nice." In addition, the unborn children would often remain below average small, because the women do not behave in accordance with pregnancy and also smoke and consume alcohol. Even the typical silhouette with ball belly can be concealed: slender therefore unconsciously enter the stomach. With thicker women, the difference is less noticeable anyway.
Budding medical assistant did not realize that she was a mother
As the dpa reports, the Heidelberg gynecologist and psychoanalyst Susanne Ditz had to deal with such a case. An 18-year-old hospitalized with a suspected renal colic was a mother only hours later. The strong back pain, which is common in renal colic, according to Ditz were actually in labor. The young woman did not even think about weight gain. Although the 18-year-old noticed that her stomach was hard, but: "But she interpreted that as a bowel problems, with which she had to do before." The slight nausea led her back to stomach problems. The most curious was, however, that the woman trained as a medical assistant and there was no one noticed anything. "The birth was then completely trouble-free," said Ditz. "That was a good case." Psychotherapy was not necessary.
Infanticide after repressed pregnancy
According to the agency message, however, this is absolutely necessary for the greater part of the victims. "You have to meet the women with empathy and show clearly that they are not an isolated case and not crazy." It is said that without psychological support there is a risk that the woman would harm herself or the child after repressed pregnancies. According to Rott, there are about 30 cases of child killing in Germany every year. Frequently behind it were repressed pregnancies. Last year, for example, a young woman in Siegen, North Rhine-Westphalia, went to court and was accused of double homicide. The prosecution accused her of suffocating her children either "in a medically undetectable way". The alcohol and tablet dependent defendant claimed not to have noticed the pregnancy.
Gut feeling during pregnancy is irreplaceable
In addition to the psychological burden of an unprepared birth missing the entire organization for everyday life with a child, it says in the dpa message. Therefore, after the childbirth for support, a social worker is usually involved. "The essential problem of women is an information deficit." Questions like: Which forms do I have to fill out? or: How do I care about a baby at all? want to be answered. It must be determined individually, how long a mother's care after the birth last. Each woman takes different lengths to really become a mother. "It is very important that a woman can prepare for motherhood," said Susanna Rinne-Wolf, first chairwoman of the Berlin Midwives Association. "That's from the moment I realize I'm pregnant, about naming the baby to the birth," says the midwife. In a pregnancy, the gut feeling is irreplaceable. An interesting work on the topic, which was published under the title "The negated pregnancy", can be found here. (Ad)