Rihanna was pregnant with her second child when she posed for the iconic photoshoot for British Vogue with partner A$AP Rocky and their baby son – but the singer recently admitted she didn’t realise it at the time.
She’s not the first celebrity to remain in the dark about their own pregnancy, especially while caring for a young baby.
Stacey Solomon shared that she was eight months pregnant in December 2022. At the time she said the pregnancy had come as a “huge surprise” and later revealed in a Q&A that she hadn’t realised she was pregnant until three months in (for context, that’s around the time you’d have your 12-week scan).
“My periods were irregular from breastfeeding [her youngest child Rose], we were planning a wedding then getting married and then just crazy busy life and it honestly didn’t even register,” she said at the time.
The 33-year-old has since given birth to a baby girl.
You might be questioning how someone wouldn’t know they’re pregnant months down the line – but it can, and does, happen. And when you’ve got a small baby in tow, it’s even easier to miss those telltale signs.
One of the key indicators of pregnancy – a missed period – is pretty hard to keep track of after a baby is born because some new parents might not experience periods for months, sometimes even a year, after if they’re breastfeeding.
Dr Shazia Malik, obstetrician-gynaecologist at The Portland Hospital (part of HCA Healthcare UK), tells HuffPost UK: “Women are unlikely to have periods all the while they are breastfeeding if the baby is under six months old and they are breast fed exclusively.”
For this reason, it’s common for women to use breastfeeding as a form of natural contraception – known as lactational amenorrhoea method, or LAM.
But this method of contraception can be ineffective, says Dr Malik, and can cause some to fall pregnant unexpectedly. This is because you can still ovulate while breastfeeding.
Some new parents might also simply forget about contraception – especially when they’re busy looking after a young baby. It’s even easier to forget if contraception wasn’t a necessity during pregnancy or prior to that when they were trying for a baby.
You might also miss bodily cues and pregnancy symptoms because you’re preoccupied by your little one.
As Midwife Pip, a practicing midwifery sister and podcaster, explains: “Naturally in the postpartum, your body feels different – you are tired and experiencing many hormonal changes because of having gone through a pregnancy and birth experience and this is why, for many, some early signs and symptoms may be missed.”
While sex might be the last thing on a new parent’s mind in the weeks after birth, the midwife says it’s possible to get pregnant again very quickly.
“You may ovulate before your first period postpartum and as soon as you ovulate you could become pregnant. This could happen as soon as around three weeks after giving birth,” she says.
Generally, medical professionals recommend waiting 18 months after giving birth before getting pregnant again to allow the body to fully recover from the last pregnancy.
“I advise women to consider using a form of contraception every time you have sex after giving birth, regardless of how long it’s been, unless of course they would like to get pregnant again,” says Dr Malik.
“Naturally you might be unsure about which contraception is safe to use if you are breastfeeding, so if you are breastfeeding or simply unsure about which contraceptive method is right for you after birth, please speak to your GP.”