Not every mom-to-be wants the world to know that she’s pregnant. Whilst some expectant moms are telling the whole town their exciting baby news, others want to hide their pregnancy for nine months. If you find yourself in the latter group, it is possible to hide your pregnancy.
Keeping pregnancy symptoms like morning sickness and cravings disguised is not always easy but it is a whole lot easier than trying to keep a growing baby bump hidden away.
Don’t worry though Mommy, if you want to keep your pregnancy private it is possible to hide a pregnancy for nine months, it is just going to take some planning, a deceptive wardrobe and you are going to need to work hard on your poker face!
In this article
Why Do Some Women Hide a Pregnancy For Nine Months?
If you are someone who couldn’t wait to announce your pregnancy to all of your friends and family you may be wondering why some women choose to keep their pregnancy a secret.
It is every woman’s personal choice if and when she reveals she is pregnant and some expectant moms decide not to tell anyone that they are pregnant. There are many reasons why women choose to keep their pregnancy a secret, here is a list of some of those reasons:
Fear of miscarriage or previous baby loss
If a woman has had a previous miscarriage she may decide not to tell anyone if she becomes pregnant again.
This may be because she doesn’t want to ‘tempt fate’ or she may just want to keep the pregnancy private in case the worst happens and she doesn’t want to have to go through telling everyone she lost the baby.
Work commitments or promotion opportunities
Although in 2021 women should not have to fear losing their job when they reveal their pregnancy, many women still choose to keep their pregnancy a secret from their boss or colleagues.
If a woman is up for promotion or is working hard on a particular work project, she may decide to keep her pregnancy secret to secure her position in the workplace.
A family member or friend is pregnant
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Maybe your friend has struggled with IVF for years and she has just revealed her pregnancy. Maybe you don’t want to reveal your own pregnancy as you don’t want to take the attention away from her good news.
For some women, they decide to hide their own pregnancy as they don’t want to ‘steal the limelight’ from someone else that they care about.
Like to keep things private
Some people don’t want everyone to know their business. Women may hide their pregnancy simply because they don’t like to share their private lives with everyone else.
Pregnancy is a very personal thing but also once you reveal your pregnancy everyone seems to have something to say. Some women just decide to keep their pregnancy hidden because they like to keep their life private.
How Long Can You Hide a Pregnancy?
If you have decided you are not ready to reveal your pregnancy, you may be wondering how long you can hide a pregnancy.
You will need to work hard to keep your pregnancy hidden for nine months but it is easy for most women to keep their baby bump hidden during the first and the majority of the second trimester.
Some women ‘show’ earlier than others. One expectant mom may have to be wearing baggier clothes before she is even 12 weeks pregnant whereas another could be at her due date and still fitting into the clothes she was wearing before she became pregnant.
Pregnancy is different for all women and some women will have small, easy-to-hide bumps and others may have large round bellies that take a lot of effort to keep hidden away.
It is possible to hide a baby bump for your whole pregnancy but you are going to have to plan or get your excuses and baggy clothes at the ready. Keep reading to found out exactly how you can hide your pregnancy for nine months.
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How To Hide A Pregnancy For 9 Months
There are a few wardrobe tricks and little white lies moms-to-be can use to keep their pregnancy a secret. So if you are wanting to keep your pregnancy under wraps, here is a list of ways you can keep your pregnancy hidden until you give birth.
Avoid tight-fitting clothes
This one is pretty obvious but it is not going to be easy to hide a growing baby bump in tight-fitted clothes.
Many expectant moms are able to keep wearing tight-fitting clothes throughout the first trimester but once your baby bumps ‘pops’ you will need to ditch the figure-hugging shirts and dresses if you want to keep your pregnancy a secret.
Wear big patterns and baggy clothes
Big and bold patterns are distracting. It is going to be easier to disguise your baby bump if you distract people with loud patterns that make it hard for the eye to focus in one place (your baby bump, for example).
Another obvious one here, but wearing baggy clothes will help to keep your bump hidden away. Don’t wear clothes that are way too loose though as this may cause suspicion in the people around you, just go baggy enough that no fabric is clinging to your growing belly.
Ditch maternity clothes and layer up
Quite often maternity clothes are obviously maternity clothes. If you are trying to hide your pregnancy you don’t want to accidentally flash an elasticated waistband or have obvious stretchy side panels on your shirts.
When it comes to maternity clothes, stores don’t always have a large selection and you don’t want to be caught out wearing the same maternity dress your friend who has just given birth has also been wearing for the last nine months.
Wearing layers can be a great way to camouflage your baby bump. You can wear big jumpers and scarves in the fall and winter, it is much easier to keep your bump hidden in the colder months when you can layer up and hide your bump away.
Say you are ‘detoxing’ or on a special diet
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If you have decided to quit drinking during your pregnancy or have become a lot more conscious about the foods you eat now you are pregnant, you can just tell people you are on a detox.
It is not really a lie, you are just omitting the real reason why you are changing your eating and drinking habits! If you say you are on a paleo diet you can easily get away with saying no to alcohol, caffeine, and certain foods like soft cheese.
Have your excuses ready
During the first trimester, you are likely to be running to the toilet with morning sickness and as your pregnancy progresses you will be needing to pee a lot. You can have a few little white lies ready, say you have a stomach bug, ate something off at lunch or you have a bladder infection.
It is never fun having to lie to friends and colleagues but if you want to keep your pregnancy a secret then you are going to get comfortable with telling the odd little lie every now and then.
Stop touching your baby bump
It is only natural for a mom to be to want to touch her growing baby bump. Babies kick and stretch when they are growing and it is a lovely thing to experience and to feel.
However, if you are constantly cradling and rubbing your belly then you are going to draw attention to your bump and spark suspicion. It won’t be easy, especially if your baby is very active but if you want your pregnancy to stay hidden then you need to keep your hands off your bump.
Say you are at the dentist instead of the gynecologist
Your family and friends are going to get really suspicious if you tell them you are going to the gynecologist regularly. The alarm bells will start ringing if you are frequently asking for time off work to go to an OBGYN appointment.
Instead, you could say you are having dental work done that requires a lot of treatments or make up another excuse, say you are having some other kind of treatment done that will need lots of follow-up appointments.
You are going to need to get your imagination flowing if you want to keep all of your scans and prenatal appointments a secret.
FAQs
How long can a woman hide a pregnancy?
According to medical research, in about 1 in 475 pregnancies, women are unaware of their pregnancy until 20 weeks or more. So it is possible to hide a pregnancy for quite some time.
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Can pregnancy hide itself?
A cryptic pregnancy which is also called a stealth pregnancy is when a pregnancy can not be detected by conventional medical testing. These types of pregnancy are rare but they are also not unheard of.
Can you mentally make yourself feel pregnant?
People with pseudocyesis have many if not every pregnancy symptom, with the exception of an actual fetus. Some men experience a similar phenomenon known as couvade or sympathetic pregnancy.
They can develop many of the same symptoms as their pregnant partners, including weight gain, backache, nausea, and cravings.
When do you start to feel pregnant?
Other than a missed period, pregnancy symptoms tend to start kicking in around 5/6 weeks. 60% of women experience some signs or symptoms of pregnancy at around this time.
The Final Thought
If you want to hide a pregnancy for nine months you can, it just may become more difficult as your pregnancy progresses.
In early pregnancy, it is challenging to keep pregnancy symptoms like morning sickness a secret and in the later stages of pregnancy, it becomes difficult to keep your bump hidden away.
You can hide your pregnancy for nine months. You just need to follow the tips in this article and get creative at bending the truth.
Remember, it is your decision if and when you decide to share your pregnancy news.
If you don’t want to say anything until your baby is here, we hope this article has given you lots of ideas on how to keep your pregnancy a secret. For all, you need to know about your pregnancy check out our guide here.
