CRYPTIC PREGNANCY AND THE AFRICAN APPROACH..

A cryptic pregnancy is when a woman is unaware that she is pregnant. In some cases, the woman may discover that she's pregnant when she is the third trimester or only when she falls into labor. Not just the woman, doctors and relatives may also be unaware that the woman is pregnant.

Babies born from cryptic pregnancy tend to be underweight because of lack of prenatal care since the mother was not aware that she was pregnant. Often times, women with cryptic pregnancy do not experience typical symptoms like nausea, missed period or abdominal swelling.

Doctors classify cryptic pregnancy as psychotic and no nonpsychotic. According to 2011 review, research finds that 1in 475 women deny their pregnancy at 20 weeks or more. Women with psychotic denial of pregnancy may have mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. They may experience symptoms of pregnancy, bur may link them to delusional causes.

Women with nonpsychotic denial have no mental illness and their sense of reality is intact. Doctor separate nonpsychotic cryptic pregnancy into three categorie:. Pervative, affective and persistent.

PERVASIVE DENIAL OF PREGNANCY EXPERIENCE: This is when a woman lacks emotional significance and unaware that she is pregnant. In this case, the woman doesn't feel any symptom of pregnancy or emotional attachment to the pregnancy until she gives birth.

AFFECTIVE DENIAL OF PREGNANCY KNOWLEDGE: This is when a woman acknowledges she is pregnant, but does not prepare emotionally or physically for the pregnancy, childbirth and parenting. In this care, the woman may have a clue of pregnancy, but she does not connect with the pregnancy and not concerned about it.

PERSISTENT DENIAL OF PREGNANCY, BUT BECOME AWARE: This is when a woman was in denial of her pregnancy, but later become aware in the last trimester and avoids seeking medical attention.

Research reports that 36% of women with cryptic pregnancies have pervasive denial, 11% have persistent denial and 52% have affective denial. So, some cryptic pregnancies are due to deliberate attempt to deny the pregnancy, while some due to mental illnesses, age or lack of emotion.

SOURCE: Medical News Today

In Arica, it is believed that cryptic pregnancy are due to affliction from enemies or witchcraft. Some women have allegedly carried their pregnancies for couple of years before giving birth to the children. It is sometimes believed that some enemy somewhere held the pregnancy to ransome because the woman committed an abominable offence and needs to confess or perform some ritual before the baby can be released. I have personally heard of pregnancies that lasted for years in the womb before the babies were born.

Are you familiar with the term "cryptic pregnancy", have you experienced or witnessed a cryptic pregnancy? What's your take on cryptic pregnancy? Let's discuss....

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