By MEREDITH NASH
After weeks of speculation about the contents of her uterus, it was revealed overnight that Catherine Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, is indeed pregnant.
However, Catherine is in the early weeks of her first trimester. It seems that the announcement was made only because she was hospitalised with hyperemesis gravidarum (severe pregnancy sickness).
For many women, the announcement of a pregnancy to friends and family is an important milestone. Making a big pregnancy announcement has become so normalised that women can now officially designate that they are expecting a child on Facebook in the friends and family section of their profile page.
The key question is when is the most appropriate time to do it?
In Australia and elsewhere in the West, announcing a pregnancy around the 12 week mark is a social norm. From a medical viewpoint, pregnancy at twelve weeks is considered to be “safe” – a woman is less likely to have a miscarriage (loss of a fetus before the 20th week of pregnancy).
Indeed, in my own research, pregnant women in Melbourne told me they were inclined to keep quiet about their pregnancies until they had an early ultrasound scan to rule out any fetal abnormalities. They couldn’t fathom the idea of announcing a pregnancy to friends and family and then having a miscarriage, even though approximately one in four pregnancies end this way.
But why is it taboo to talk about fetal loss in public?
As feminist anthropologist Linda Layne has argued, women are trapped in the midst of contradictory cultural forces.
Top Comments
On our first 2 pregnancies we told family and close friends, then I would miscarry, on future pregnancies we didnt tell anyone in case we jinxed it. After 9 pregnancies and no baby it has been so heartbreaking, most of our closest friends and some family dont know how much we went through. We now know it will never happen for us, as im now too old. And its so hard being around babies, but im getting a bit better with it. I really wish Kate all the best and will be crossing everything for her and all the other woman out there xx
I lost two babies at 10 weeks. I will be holding my breath for Kate. I actually feel so sorry that she had to announce her pregnancy so early because we are so bloody obsessed with her getting pregnant she can't suffer like many other pregnant women do............in privacy!!!