Am in Denial
There are those puzzling instances when a woman will give birth yet no signs of pregnancy were observed. There were no pregnancy signs and those around her did not even note changes indicating a pregnancy. Questions come to mind when this happens; did she not feel any changes? Did she just refuse to inform on her pregnancy?, did she not want the pregnancy? In fact, this is a complex condition known as pregnancy denial.
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What is pregnancy denial?
In the simplest terms this is when a woman consciously or sub-consciously refuses or ignores the pregnancy. However, this is a complex mental condition as studies have shown that the mind develops a defense mechanism to refuse acknowledgement of painful feelings, thoughts or realities. Pregnancy denial comes in 3 forms;
- • Pervasive Denial – This happens when the woman is unaware emotionally or physically that she is pregnant. She only realizes it when the baby is born. The danger is that she may refuse to acknowledge the baby as a real baby.
- • Affective Denial – In this case, the woman is aware she is pregnant but does not prepare emotionally or physically for the pregnancy. This is commonly observed in substance abusers./li>
- • Psychotic Denial – This happens in women who may ignore the pregnancy because they are not mentally capable of preparing for it.
- • Keeping the pregnancy to term and raising the baby. In this case, intense counseling will be needed to help you develop an emotional bond with the fetus and the baby when he/she is born.
- • Keeping the pregnancy and giving up the baby for adoption after birth. When the professional health expert makes a conclusion that you are not in any position to raise the baby, he/she can recommend adoption.
- • Termination of the pregnancy. In some cases, the fetus may already be damaged by the denial, or you might be in danger. The health expert could recommend a termination to save you from further physical danger.
Where is help?
The sooner you realize denying a pregnancy does not mean that it will go away, the better help you can get. Hard choices have to be made and they can be done with the help of professional counseling. This is to help make a choice on what to do with the pregnancy and make appropriate plans.
The professional counselor might advise on;
The best course of action when you recognize the signs of denial, is to get professional help immediately.
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