How can some women not know that they are pregnant?

I could probably believe up to 4 months just because some women do have a bleed and they may just not be timing it and may not get any other symptoms. Larger women wouldn't notice getting any bigger either as that usually happens later for them. Going through a whole pregnancy though... How can you not notice the feeling of a baby moving around in your stomach, it's a pretty obvious feeling especially as you get further along.

In the 70s a cousin of mine was 8 months pregnant before she knew,she had still been having periods although they were lighter than usual,she had put on a bit of weight but not much,she was a bit chubby anyway,she said she had no sickness and did not feel any movement until she was 8 months gone! when she first felt the baby she went to the doctors,even then doctors said she is not pregnant because she was having periods,she made a Doctor put his hand on her stomach when the baby was moving,then they believed her,she went on to have 5 other children with normal symptoms,the first baby was a bit small,he only weighed 5 pounds at birth, but he is fine now! I have heard since that the body can go a bit haywire and still send an egg down to be fertilised even though there is a baby there,its very lucky to survive in the womb when this happens and must be very firmly attached to mother!

basically sometimes people have these problems... they feel a little bloated and lightheaded, sometimes sick (usually on a morning) but they get over it. pass it off as nothing. but then they realised they havent excreted in four months. then it gets serious. so when they are able to excrete they push so hard - thinking they are just constipated - and out pops a baby. want to know the worst thing? some people dont even realise till theyve flushed the toilet. and thats how people get the nickname bad parents, or sh!t baby hope this helped

I think in her case, it was denial. But yes, it can happen. With my eldest, I was 4 months pregnant when I found out. I bled monthly, albeit quite lightly but that wasn't unusual for me. When I missed a period I did a test which came up positive. Imagine my shock when a scan showed how far along I was! I didn't have a bump or any morning sickness. No signs! With some women, their bodies don't show any signs of pregnancy. Some women are in denial. It totally depends.

i've often wondered that exact same thing! after watching my wife seemingly almost pop during 3 pregnancies, i simply dont beleive that any woman could not know she's pregnant. and i simply laugh out loud when someone says a doctor didnt spot the pregnancy ... utter rubbish!!

It's very possible, some woman don't have the normal weight gain, and have their 'period' every month. Bleeding is usually due to pregnancy.

I have never understood that either, from experience and giving birth to my son just over 2 weeks ago I have no idea how any 1 can say they didn't know they were pregnant

personally i think they did know but were in denial - having been pregnant 3 times - there is NO way u can know, esp at the later stages/ when baby kicks

well, not trying to sound rude, but umm some women are overweight and start losing weight. After they've been exercising and losing weight and living more healthily they fall pregnant. And keep losing weight throughout the entire pregnancy but the only ones who don't seem to suspect are the ones that had irregular periods. I've always wondered how they missed their baby moving, but I guess if you didn't know you were pregnant you might just think it was gas/food digesting etc. Bleeding twice or even three times can happen after you fall pregnant and is pretty normal, but more than that she definitely needs to tell a doctor. But if you're missing periods and you're on a regular cycle, I'm not sure. Pregnancy symptoms can be pretty subtle or non-existant, so they might have thought a few different things because there's a fair bit that can make you miss periods, but it would make no sense if the doctor didn't ask if it was a possibility. Edit: how do you know she missed her periods?