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Nurse Denied Pregnancy for 9 Months
16 Sep
Summary
- A nurse concealed her pregnancy for nine months due to affective denial.
- She experienced severe pre-eclampsia and an emergency cesarean birth.
- Post-birth, she struggled with maternal connection for weeks.
For 14 years, Shannon Senior served as a nurse. In 2023, upon discovering her pregnancy, she faced a profound emotional disconnect, a condition later identified as affective denial of pregnancy. This meant she intellectually acknowledged her pregnancy but struggled to emotionally accept it.
During her pregnancy, Senior concealed her changing body, even wearing hospital scrubs to hide her bump. Her condition progressed to severe pre-eclampsia, with dangerously high blood pressure. This necessitated an emergency caesarean birth, an event she only fully grasped when signing consent forms, leading to a state of distress.
Following the birth of her daughter, Lily, Senior found herself unable to form the immediate maternal bond she had anticipated. She described not feeling the expected overwhelming love and initially struggled to hold her newborn, highlighting a delayed emotional connection in the first nine weeks of Lily's life.
