When Keionna Dickerson went to the hospital for severe stomach pains in July, it never occurred to her that she was about to have a baby.
She had no baby bump and had regular periods for the last nine months.
So when doctors told her that she was in active labor, she was surprised, to say the least.
‘I had no symptoms. I had regular periods. I really didn’t have a bump at all I was the same size,’ she told the Daily Mail during an exclusive chat.
Dickerson, 31, from Milan, Tennessee, who already had three kids, had gone to the emergency room because she had developed intense cramps.
‘I was at work and was having really bad pain in my stomach and couldn’t work so I went to the hospital to see what was going on,’ she explained.
Doctors began running tests and discovered that she was 35 weeks pregnant and about to give birth.
‘I had no clue I was pregnant. I was in active labor and didn’t know it,’ she said.
Keionna Dickerson went to the hospital for severe stomach pains in July, and was shocked to learn that she was in active labor
Hours after arriving at the hospital expecting to be treated for a stomach bug, Dickerson gave birth to a baby boy, who she named Champion
Doctors noticed that her baby’s heart rate was dropping so they scheduled an emergency C-section.
Hours after arriving at the hospital expecting to be treated for a stomach bug, Dickerson gave birth to a baby boy, who she named Champion.
Dickerson suffered from something known as cryptic pregnancy.
Studies suggest about one in 475 pregnancies go unnoticed until about 20 weeks gestation, while about one in 2,500 pregnancies go unnoticed until delivery.
Cryptic pregnancies typically affect either young women who have never experienced a pregnancy, or women who believe they’ve gone through the menopause and who choose not to use contraception.
Women with erratic menstrual cycles are also more likely to miss signs they are expecting.
This is especially true among women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), where small cysts grow on the ovaries. The hormone imbalance often leads to irregular or non-existent periods.
Yet there are some women who will continue to have monthly bleeds throughout their pregnancy. In this case, a scan at the local GP may be the only method of confirmation.
Dickerson said she had no baby bump and had regular periods for the last nine months. She’s seen (left) when she was seven months pregnant
Dickerson opened up about her shock birth on TikTok last month and the video went viral, gaining more than 1.5 million views
Dickerson opened up about her shock birth on TikTok last month and the video went viral, gaining more than 1.5 million views.
Many people rushed to the comment section to share their fears over cryptic pregnancies.
‘Dang, those cryptic pregnancy are terrifying,’ wrote one user.
‘My biggest fear… oh my please never,’ added another.
‘This is my worst nightmare,’ shared someone else.
‘New fear unlocked,’ read a fourth comment, while a fifth said: ‘Cryptic pregnancies are crazy.’
