Concealed pregnancies not a thing of the past

FEAR of social stigma and upsetting family means women continue to hide pregnancy, forfeiting antenatal care to the detriment of their unborn child, new research has found.

The report — Concealed Pregnancy: A case-study approach in an Irish setting — said neither denial nor concealment of pregnancy were a thing of the past.

Instead the research, carried out by Catherine Conlon of the Women’s Education, Research and Resource Centre (WERCC) UCD, on behalf of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency and the Health Service Executive, found women continue to conceal and deny pregnancy for a variety of societal, cultural and psychological reasons, including: