Firefighters in Okayama Prefecture, Japan, responded to an emergency call yesterday claiming, “A woman gave birth into a cesspool-type toilet and the baby fell in.” We’ve seen a similar incident play out in China about a month ago, but this case sheds light on a lesser known mental condition.
The baby had fallen one and a half meters to the bottom of the cesspool at approximately 6:00 am on 27 June. According to the fire department the baby was recovered completely unharmed at around 7:40 am after firefighters broke through the toilet room floor.
The mother was taken to hospital and made a full recovery from excessive bleeding. Afterwards, she reportedly said, “I felt something uncomfortable in my body. I didn’t know I was pregnant.”
According to a study published in the British Medical Journal, this phenomenon known as “denial of pregnancy” is more common than originally thought. An informal survey conducted in Berlin suggests that the rate of denied pregnancies that last until labor is 1 in 2,455. This is three times more likely than it is to have triplets (1 in 7,225).
It is said to be a mental condition in which the expecting mother convinces herself she is not pregnant in spite of the changes occurring in her body. In some instances this belief causes the mother to not gain weight or continue menstrual-like bleeding.
This baby and mother were incredibly lucky to have gotten through childbirth successfully. Hopefully, the mom can overcome her condition and they can get on track to a happy life together.
Source: Sponichi Annex (Japanese), BMJ (English)
Image: RocketNews24