Concealed pregnancy: Prevalence, Perinatal measures and socio-demographics

A target group of women who concealed their pregnancy (n=43) was compared to an aged-matched control group (n=30) that experienced a crisis pregnancy. Comparisons were also made with a larger dataset (n=6363) of births in University Hospital Galway (UHG) (normative group). Data was analysed using the Chi-square test and the Kolmogorov-Smirnoff two-sample test. The number of women from the target group that were from a rural background was 28 (65%), compared to 10 (33%) from the control group. The number of women from the target group that feared a negative parental reaction to the pregnancy was 34 (79%), compared to 12 (40%) from the control group. The birth weight in the target group was 400g lower than the normative birth weight. The average age of women who concealed was 8 years lower than the normative age. The prevalence of concealed pregnancy in UHG was one in every 148 births.