Cryptic pregnancy
Pregnancy is a time of physical and emotional development, in which women adapt to their future maternal role and live. The gestational period allows time to accept the pregnancy, become attached to the fetus and prepare for birth. However human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) is a glycoprotein having a low molecular weight of about 39,000 and much the same molecular structure and function as luteinizing hormone secreted by the anterior pituitary gland (adenohypophysis). By far, its most important function is to prevent involution of the corpus luteum at the end of the monthly female sexual cycle
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cryptic pregnancy, also known as undetected pregnancy, stealth pregnancy , hidden pregnancy and is referred to as a denial of pregnancy or late recognition of pregnancy is an important condition that is more common than expected in which a situation is said to be cryptic when it goes undetected for a long period of time or sometimes till the delivery due to minimal or no symptoms that occur with regular pregnancy. In several cases, the pregnancy goes unnoticed until the would-be mother is twentieth ( 20th) weeks into pregnancy and in other cases, the pregnancy may remain undetected till the would-be mother goes into labor, thus making it a completely cryptic pregnancy is most simply classified as psychotic or non-psychotic Those with psychotic denial tend to be chronically mentally ill (e.g. schizophrenia, bipolar disorder) and remain psychotic throughout pregnancy, or the mother will not accept the pregnancy and is unable to progress to the stages of fetal attachment and preparation for delivery. She will consequently be unprepared for delivery and motherhood... this report is aimed to study the characteristics of women who deny awareness of their pregnancies, the underlying causes and conflicts that's lead to absence of many physical symptoms of pregnancy and their adverse consequences for both mother and fetus and what happens to the fetus in cryptic pregnancy. Case reports illustrate the incidence of denial of pregnancy.
