How To Keep Your Early Pregnancy Secret

Have you just found out you are pregnant and not quite ready to share the news with friends, family, or colleagues just yet? Read our tips for hiding pregnancy and ideas for how to keep your early pregnancy secret.

It is up to you when you tell people that you are pregnant, but there are several discreet ways to keep your early pregnancy under wraps. Whether you're waiting for the right moment to announce your exciting news or simply want to keep things private for a while longer, these tips can help you keep your pregnancy secret until you’re ready to tell everyone the news on your own terms and timeline.

Should I Announce My Pregnancy Before 12 Weeks?

There is no set rule about when you should announce your pregnancy. It is entirely up to you and when you feel comfortable telling everyone the news.

Some women chose to wait until the end of the first trimester (at the 12^th week of pregnancy) or until they’ve had their first pregnancy ultrasound scan, which is known as the dating scan and usually takes place at around 10-14 weeks of pregnancy, before sharing the news that they are pregnant. Some chose to wait even longer to share the news, for example until after the 20 week screening scan.

However, others are happier to talk about it earlier in the first trimester, or even as soon as they find out they are pregnant.

There is no right or wrong time to announce your pregnancy, or who you tell, in what order, and the timings of announcing your pregnancy are entirely up to you and what you feel comfortable with. You might also want to only tell a few select people at first – for example close friends and family – and let everyone else know your news later on.

Reasons Why People Wait To Announce Their Pregnancy

There are many different reasons why people chose to wait to announce their pregnancy, both personal and practical. Finding out you are pregnant is life-changing news that might take a while to process, even if you are ecstatic to be pregnant. You might also like the idea of keeping the news as a secret for a while.

You also might be waiting for a specific and special moment to tell everyone, for example the first time you see an individual or group of people in person. You might also wait to time the announcement around a special day or event – Christmas baby announcements to family are always popular.

You might also wait to announce your pregnancy because you are waiting for the first or second trimester pregnancy scans. There are some tests that take place during the first and second trimester that you might want to wait to hear the results of first.

Reasons Why People Announce Their Pregnancy ‘Early’

There are also many reasons why people might want to announce their pregnancy early, or as soon as they find out that they are pregnant.

You might be absolutely thrilled to find out your are pregnant and want to scream it from the rooftops as soon as you find out. You might also want to announce your pregnancy early as you are terrible at keeping secrets!

You might want to confide in others right away to get emotional support, advice or have someone to talk to about your thoughts and feelings. Confiding in others means you may also get practical support, which can be especially helpful if you already have young children.

Depending on your job, there might be reasons for telling your employer your are pregnant sooner than later too, for example if it is a physical job, or if you are affected by pregnancy sickness.

Remember, it’s up to you when you tell everyone you are pregnant, and for whatever reason you want.

Tips to Hide Your Pregnancy in the First Trimester

If you’ve decided to keep your pregnancy secret for now, here are tips for hiding pregnancy. These tips can be helpful in scenarios where you need to disguise a baby bump or make an excuse for certain behaviours, for example if you need reasons for not drinking when you’re pregnant.

Give a Reason Why You’re Not Drinking Alcohol Or Caffeine

If you are used to socializing, you might need to give a reason to explain why you are not drinking alcohol or your usual regular takeaway coffee, to keep eagle-eyed colleagues or pals off the scent.

Potential excuses for not drinking alcohol or caffeine when secretly pregnant could include:

• You’re driving, hence not drinking alcohol
• You had a work function or party the night before
• You’re taking part in Dry January or taking a month ‘off’
• You’re cutting back on your usual daily coffee for diet or budget reasons.

Tell People You’re On A Specific Diet

You can always tell friends you are on a specific diet for health and wellness reasons, that includes cutting out things like caffeine and alcohol.

Explain That You Are On A Fertility Focussed Diet

Tell people you're on a pro-fertility diet, to explain why you’re not drinking or might be avoiding certain foods. This is because ways to help support your fertility and reproductive health include stopping drinking and avoiding consuming caffeine and alcohol. However, this involves telling people you are trying for a baby, so might not be suitable for everyone.

Don’t Make Any Excuses

Rest assured that if you don’t draw attention to the fact that you are not drinking, some people won’t notice. Drink a mocktail or a clear, no-alcoholic drink in a mixer glass and make your own orders at the bar. If you’re meeting friends for coffee, arrive early and order a decaf version.

Wear Clothing That Hides Your Bump

A baby bump is usually noticeable between weeks 12 and 16 of pregnancy. However, all bodies are different, and when your pregnancy becomes visible can vary depending on a number of factors, including your weight, stomach muscles, and the position of the baby. It is also common to experience some level of bloating in the first trimester, which you may chose to disguise.

When it comes to clothes to wear to hide pregnancy, there are several tricks you can try:

Avoid tight-fitting clothes: Anything too tight-fitting will reveal a baby bump, so you might want to avoid these for a while.

Aim for oversized tops and fitted bottoms: Try wearing slightly oversized, non-fitted tops balanced out with more fitted clothes on your bottom half

Try peplums: Wear a fitted top with a peplum (a flared or ruffled bottom part by the waistline)

Go for a bigger size: If you’re looking for clothes to disguise pregnancy, try clothes in a size or two up from your regular pregnancy size

Wear chunky knits or cardigans: Anything in chunkier knit style or with a button detailing will help to keep your baby bump under wraps for now.

Go for dark colours or patterns: These can help to ‘trick’ the eye.

Cancel Or Defer Plans

If you don’t want to make excuses to friends while you’re with them – or are convinced they will see through any excuses – it might be easier to push back your next meet-up for a few weeks, until after you’ve told them the news.