Carmen Romero, a 31-year-old woman from the Canary Island of Tenerife, experienced a cryptic pregnancy when she went to hospital with stomach cramps and discovered she was in labor. She gave birth to her second daughter, a child she had not known she was carrying.
Unexpected Birth in Emergency Room
Romero was 24 at the time and went to the emergency room complaining of cramps. Her father insisted she seek medical attention. Upon examination, doctors informed her she was not only pregnant but in active labor. In an interview on the Spanish television program Y ahora Sonsoles with presenter Sonsoles Onega, Romero recounted her disbelief.
“I went to the emergency room because my father insisted. I just had cramps, like the urge to use the bathroom,” she said. She noted that during her first pregnancy she gained 45 kilograms and developed a hiatal hernia, but this time she had no typical pregnancy symptoms.
No Kicks or Warning Signs
Romero stated she had not felt any fetal movement. “I didn’t feel a thing, not a kick, nothing,” she explained. According to Spanish news outlet 20 Minutos, when doctors performed an ultrasound, they told her she was pregnant. When she asked how far along, the doctor replied, “I’d swear you’re actually giving birth right now.”
Romero refused to go to the delivery room, unable to accept the news. After being calmed and speaking with her mother on the phone, she requested an epidural, but medical staff informed her that the baby’s head was already crowning. She was in the delivery room for only ten minutes.
Medical Factors and Emotional Shock
Romero attributed her lack of awareness to a condition causing abdominal bloating and irregular periods, which could lead to months without menstruation. The sudden birth left her in a state of shock. She described the moment she was handed her newborn daughter as “horrifying.”
“I was alone, they put the baby on top of me and told me: ‘It’s a girl, she’s okay.’ I looked at the baby, hallucinating. I felt like they had given me a baby that wasn’t mine,” she said. Initially, she considered putting the child up for adoption but later changed her mind.
Bonding Through Crisis
Twenty days after the birth, the baby experienced a sleep apnea episode, turning purple and stopping breathing. That moment triggered Romero’s maternal bond. “That was the moment I said, ‘Shit, I love her. I need someone to save my child,’” she recalled.
Cryptic Pregnancy Statistics
Romero is believed to have had a cryptic pregnancy, where the pregnant person is unaware of the pregnancy until late stages. According to a 2024 report by the BBC, about one in every 2,500 births in the UK is cryptic, equating to roughly 300 births annually. In Spain, data on cryptic pregnancies is scarce.
