New Mum didn’t even know she was pregnant

It’s something that you think would only happen in the movies but surprisingly it happens more often than you think.

A new-mum in New Zealand was home when what she thought was a stomach ache turned out to be labour pains.  Emma Crofts-Wilson told the Northern Star, “I didn’t know what was happening. I just felt a major stinging feeling, and when I looked down, I saw a head.

“That’s when it hit me. The next thing I knew, I had a baby in my arms.”

The 19-year-old became pregnant after a one-night-stand with an Australian man and was worried about what her mother was going to say.  Cutting the umbilical cord with a pair of kitchen scissors she sent a text message to her mother.  Emma said, “Then I texted my mum something along the lines of, ‘please don’t be mad or angry, but I’ve just had a baby. I don’t know what to do.”

Her mother took her and the newborn to the hospital where they had a clean bill of health.  Emma claims that she didn’t even know that she was pregnant as she suffers from irregular periods and didn’t notice any weight gain. She is not alone in this phenomenon.

It’s called “cryptic pregnancy or “pregnancy denial” and Professor Helen Cheyne from the University of Stirling says that is pretty common.  She said, “In fact, they are estimated to occur in around one in 2,500 cases, suggesting around 320 cases in the UK annually, or a potential headline story almost every day.”

Emma and her now 11-month old daughter Hannah-Maria are doing well and enjoying life together.  The father, however, may have a surprise one day as he doesn’t know that he has a child.  Emma said, “I don’t know his name, so I wouldn’t even know where to look for him, but my friends and family have been so supportive of us.”