Patient didn't know she was pregnant

[cabbage patch rn]

The other night a lady (G5 P2 A2) came into our OB unit with her membranes grossly ruptured and she started off by saying she had her 1st prenatal visit 2 days earlier and that she had been in "denial" about this pregnancy. I got her into a room and checked her and she was 5 cm and her uc's were about 2-3 minutes apart. She had actually just called her mom prior to leaving home to tell her that she was pregnant and going to the hospital at that moment to have the baby. Imagine the surprise? Her husband had just found out a few days earlier as well. She told me that she had a period on and off the entire pregnancy and for the longest time she just wasn't sure if she was pregnant or not. She was a heavy set woman so it would have been fairly easy to keep the news from everyone else, but I just found it bizzare because she had already experienced 2 other full term pregnancies so how could she have not realized? I can't get the whole situation out of my head because of her h/o abortions (not m/c's). She had one prior to having kids and then another one after her last child (5 y/o). The mom was in her 30's. We were all wondering if she kept her pregnancy a secret because maybe she was afraid the father would want her to get rid of it? She kept saying she had so much stress at home and at work. When the baby came HE actually seemed happier than she did. :uhoh21: Talk about a strange situation. Have you ever seen anything like this before?

[luvbug9956]

I had a mother once when I worked in newborn nursery who hid her pregnancy. Very dangerous, as this was a woman with a history of gestational diabetes in previous pregnancies, was in her mid-forties, and very obese. Many possible complications. Luckily a healthy (almost 11 pound!) baby was born. Come to find out, the pregnancy was hidden due to the fact that the baby was not her husband's, who had had a vasectomy several years ago . I guess she thought it would all go away...I just dont understand the denial.

[Gompers, BSN, RN]

I went to nursing school with a really chubby gal who was always having abdominal pain. She said her periods were irregular because of some "female problems" and that she and her husband had been trying for years to get pregnant, and had given up on the whole idea. She went home from clinical one day and delivered a full term infant. First she knew she was pregnant was when she felt the head as she was sitting on the toilet with "abdominal cramps." No denial there -- that woman was counting the days until she could get her nursing license and a "real job" so that they could afford to adopt!

Something similar happened to my mother. My parents had tried to concieve for 5 years after they got married, but it wasn't happening. The docs blamed my dad's sperm, but now we realize that my mom also had PCOS so that didn't help any! Well, they finally adopted my brother as a newborn and that was that. When he was 3 years old, my mom started gaining weight - even with the PCOS she was always thin - and she actually was enjoying it. She said it was the first time in her life she didn't look like a boy, and she just had fun with her newfound curves. Figured it was because she was eating junk all the time while chasing after my brother. One day she was laying on her stomach and finally realized something was wrong - it was hard, not squishy. Immediately knew what it was - turns out she was 5 months along. Because of the PCOS she never had regular periods so she never even suspected it!

Funny little bit - when she called the family to tell them about this miracle pregnancy, no one guessed it. She said, "Guess who's pregnant?" and every one of them said, "Oh no, not the dog again?!" I mean, they'd been married and "trying" for 8 years at this point, so no one could believe it!!!

[bam_bam]

I've taken care of a few home deliveries like this. My first one was a 14 year old girl, baby was probably around 34 weeks. She swore she didn't know. I asked her mother if she had noticed anything. she said that her daughter had been at the pool a week before in a bikini and she didn't notice anything!

Second one was a woman in her early 20's, second baby. She was in college at the time. Previous c/s, she was at home one day and had really bad abdominal cramps. She was in the bathroom, asked her friend to come in and help her. The friend came in to help and here she was with feet hanging out! She delivered vbac, footling breech at home. She was definitely full term. She also swore she had no clue.

I didn't realize the power of denial until the second one. I think she really didn't believe she was pregnant. She wasn't in a relationship, trying to finish school with a little one at home. The last thing she wanted was to be pregnant!

Beth