Cryptic Pregnancy: College Student Gives Birth a Week After Learning She Was Pregnant

Teagan Brill, a college student, shared how she gave birth one week after finding out that she was pregnant, a rare case of cryptic pregnancy.

A senior at Hope College in Holland, Michigan, Teagan Brill, was about to participate in her Zoom class but said her stomach hurt severely. Hence, she asked her professor to attend her class with the camera off, Today reported.

She said her stomach pains were intense, and she could barely stand up. She tried calling her roommates who were sleeping upstairs. But when she did not get any help, she called 911.

"I think I'm giving birth"

At the time, Teagan did not know that the stomach cramps that she was having were contractions. While inside the bathroom and on the phone with the 911 operator, Teagan gave birth to a baby boy.

The new mom just discovered she was pregnant a week before. Thinking that she was gaining much weight, she took a pregnancy test and got a positive result.

Since she and her boyfriend, Mitchell, were in a long-distance relationship, she figured she could be one or three months pregnant. The couple decided to wait a bit before telling their parents and friends the news.

When Teagan felt stomach pains a week after, she assumed that she might be having a miscarriage. She explained her situation to the 911 operator. She also told the operator that she could barely stand up and felt intense pain, and it was getting worse.

Later, she told the operator that she thought she was already giving birth.

When Teagan reached her hand down to pull a baby out, the operator heard the cries of a newborn on the other end of the line.

A case of cryptic pregnancy

Experts said that Teagan may have had cryptic pregnancy. According to Verywell Health, it is a condition where a woman is unaware that she is expecting a baby until halfway through or late stages of pregnancy.

The condition is rare, as research says only one in 475 pregnancies go undetected until the 20-week mark. Only one in 2,500 pregnancy cases remain unrecognized until the woman goes into labor.

Cryptic pregnancy can be due to psychological reasons such as denial of pregnancy. For Taegan, nurses said her six-foot height meant that her son was growing behind her ribs. Hence, her baby bump was not showing.

@teaganbrill Reply to @emmiee19 #greenscreen pictures..never had a bump and could wear all my normal clothes.. #foryoupage #owen #surprisebaby #AVrboForTogether ♬ original sound - Teagan

Teagan did not experience any signs of pregnancy in the past nine months. She said that she did not notice any changes in her menstrual cycle. The doctors later explained that the "menstruations" were not her period. Not knowing that she was pregnant, she admitted that she unwittingly drank alcohol.

Taegan explained that when emergency responders arrived at the scene, they checked her baby and gave her a series of tests. Doctors said the baby was fine.

Delivering the shocking news

When the new mother arrived at the hospital, she called her mom to share the good news. Upon learning that she had just given birth, her mom went into a complete panic. Her mom then insisted that she would tell her dad and not Taegan. Taegan's father reportedly shoveled snow on the driveway after he found out.