When do I announce that I’m pregnant?

When do I announce that I’m pregnant?

8 Feb 2014 | 4 min Read

Baby Chakra

Author | 501 Articles

When you get to know you are pregnant, you might feel like yelling out the news from the rooftop! But should you tell everybody immediately? Whom should you tell and when should you tell?

It is a matter of personal choice, but there are some things you might want to consider before announcing your pregnancy.

Announcing before you complete the third trimester

Generally, most miscarriages happen in the first trimester. That’s the reason many women are wary of telling people about the pregnancy before they complete the first three months. But it is very hard to keep the excitement to yourself, especially if you’ve been trying for a long time, and you know that your friends and loved ones will be as happy as you are!


The advantages of telling people early:

• You get people to share in your joy.

• If you are tired and/or throwing up, you don’t have to pretend that you are fine, or you don’t have to resort to lies about why you are so tired and sick.

• You’ll get offers of help right from the beginning, when you most need it.

• In case something goes wrong with your pregnancy, you will have the required support system to tide you through difficult times.

• In case there are occupational hazards in your workplace, you and those concerned can address these issues immediately and keep you safe.

The disadvantage of announcing too early:

• In the unfortunate case of a miscarriage, along with the obvious sorrows it brings, it is also painful to have to retract your pregnancy news, and cope with all the solicitous attention of people you are not close to.

Announcing after the first trimester

This is what most people do, as the pregnancy  has now reached a safe stage, and they feel comfortable telling people. This is not too early, and there are still 6 months for people to fuss over you and give you lots of attention and for you to revel in it!

Announcing well into the third trimester

Some women prefer to keep the pregnancy to themselves, especially if they do not show too much.

Women who have undergone treatments for infertility might have a slightly increased risk of having miscarriages even in their second trimester. They might prefer to keep news of the pregnancy to themselves until the doctors give them the go-signal, and the baby reaches the stage where it can survive even outside the mother’s body with support.

Women with previous miscarriages might want to wait till the 20-22 week ultrasound, or until they receive confirmation from the doctor that their baby is growing well.

If a woman is worried about having children with chromosomal abnormalities, and if she intends to opt for terminating the pregnancy in case tests show that the baby may have chromosomal defects, she might prefer to keep her pregnancy a secret until all is proved to be well.

Some women who feel that their prospects in their career might get hurt when knowledge of their pregnancy comes out, might prefer to keep it under wraps until it is inevitable to tell at the workplace.


Not announcing until late into the third trimester

Though very few people choose to announce the news until late into their pregnancy, it is not unheard of. For various reasons, they might want to keep their pregnancy from people they don’t meet everyday.


Announcing to different people at different times

The most common decision that people take is to tell different people at different times. They tell family and close friends immediately after they themselves get to know. And then after the third trimester, they tell other people. They might still keep it from colleagues at work, and then reveal it much later.

But such an approach is not feasible in these times of the popularity of online social media! A person who knows about your pregnancy might leave a comment on your social media profile congratulating you, or might let it slip that you are pregnant, and then all your contacts will automatically get to know! So you will have to factor that risk into your decisions!

Ultimately, it is a personal decision, and you must do what you think is right. But announcing a pregnancy by itself is so exciting – the more you share your joy, the greater it becomes!

 

Also read more about: When Should I Announce My Pregnancy At Work?

 

Explore the entire collection of articles: Pregnancy must know

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