Cryptic pregnancy: 'I had 4 weeks to get my life together'

Having a baby aged 21 wasn’t in Tawana’s plans.

She was, in her own words, "living a wild, crazy life", partying and having fun with friends.

That was until she ended up in hospital after collapsing.

She had no idea why. Then she was told she'd be having a baby in four weeks' time.

"I started having a panic attack," Tawana tells the BBC’s Reliable Sauce podcast.

She was blindsided by the news.

"Because someone is telling you, yeah, you've got four weeks to get your life together."

After being admitted to hospital doctors had asked Tawana to take a pregnancy test before an MRI scan.

She'd dismissed the concern as ridiculous - she had a contraceptive implant in her arm and had shown no symptoms of being pregnant.

And when the test came back negative Tawana was even more convinced she was right.

But a nurse tried to convince the doctor to let her have an ultrasound, as she still believed Tawana might be pregnant.

River's dad, Emmanuel, says when Tawana told him the news that she was due to give birth, he didn't believe her.

"It just didn't make sense at all," he says. "It seemed very miraculous."

Having a baby without any of the typical symptoms such as vomiting or having a noticeable bump is called a cryptic pregnancy.

It’s rare, but Tawana says she was told by doctors that "it’s more common in the black community" to have one.

"[I was told] it's because of our hip and bone structure, the baby doesn't grow outwards, it grows inwards, and we're more likely to become breech," she says.

"So when it was time for me to give birth, my biggest concern was if she was going to be upside down."

While data on cryptic pregnancy isn't readily available, Alison Leary, a professor of healthcare at London South Bank University says there is wider data which suggests there are disparities in maternity care experienced by women from ethnic minorities.

"There have been quite a lot of studies that show women, particularly black women, have poor outcomes in terms of pregnancy and childbirth," she tells BBC Newsbeat.

And she feels there needs to be more research done and available on the specific issue of cryptic pregnancies.

"That's why [it's] quite an important issue even though it affects a small amount of people because if you don't get early access to good maternity care, good antenatal care, you're more likely to experience poor outcomes."

Four weeks and four days after being told she was expecting, Tawana gave birth to River after having her baby shower.

She says she struggled afterwards with post-natal depression, and looked to TikTok to find advice on becoming a young mum at such short notice.

But she says she didn't find anyone else, apart from one woman in the US who had been through similar.

"I went through a really deep depression because it was like, no one's giving me any advice.

"No one's speaking about this. Like, what is it like? And then I think I've seen like one video, which had like 100 views from a girl in America speaking about it.

"And she's literally like the only one that advised me."

Tawana later decided to share her unique experience online, in a video which has since been liked almost 400,000 times.

She's also started a podcast, speaking to other mums.

Tawana says she's shared her story and hopes it can generate more support for young mothers who find out they’re pregnant at the last minute.

She feels she was lucky enough to have financial help from her mum, but she knows that others might not be as fortunate.

Ideally, she'd like a charity to be set up.

"There's no help, so if that is something that has happened to you, how are you coping?"

• Term used when a woman has no idea that she is pregnant - some women report not knowing until they are in labour
• About one in 2,500 births is a "cryptic birth"
• That equals about 300 births in the UK a year
• Some cases are associated with a period of stress when a woman may not have, or not experience, the usual signs of pregnancy
• Even women who have irregular or absent periods still experience other pregnancy symptoms

Source: Helen Cheyne, professor of midwifery at the University of Stirling

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