Many women choose to delay announcing a pregnancy at least until the end of the first trimester (12 weeks into their pregnancy). This is usually because of concerns about the risk of miscarriage (pregnancy loss) during this time.
Pregnant women are often advised to wait until they pass the 12-week mark, when the risk of miscarriage drops sharply, to announce their pregnancies to the world.
While many women know they are pregnant as early as a week after a missed period, social norms dictate pregnancy announcements should wait until after the all-important 12-week mark. The early weeks of pregnancy are often filled with roller coaster style emotions, hormones and pregnancy symptoms.
You might want to tell your partner and/or family that you're pregnant early so they can support you through those early symptoms. However, some like to wait until the risk of miscarriage is low (after the first trimester) before revealing the news, so five weeks might be too early.
Most miscarriages - 8 out of 10 (80 percent) - happen in the first trimester before the 12th week of pregnancy. Miscarriage in the second trimester (between 13 and 19 weeks) happens in 1 to 5 in 100 (1 to 5 percent) pregnancies. Pregnancy loss that happens after 20 weeks is called stillbirth.
Most miscarriages occur before the 12th week of pregnancy. Signs and symptoms of a miscarriage might include: Vaginal spotting or bleeding.
There's no right or wrong time to tell people you're pregnant. It's up to you to decide what's best for you and, if you have a partner, you may want to decide together. Some people choose to wait until after they've had the first ultrasound scan. It's your baby, so it's up to you.
When should I tell my manager that I'm pregnant? One concrete recommendation is to notify your employer at the end of the first trimester (12-13 weeks). Around this time, some women begin to show, and the risk of miscarriage is lower.
The risk of miscarriage drops significantly as pregnancy progresses. In one study, researchers found a miscarriage rate of 9.4 percent at 6 weeks of pregnancy, 4.2 percent at 7 weeks, 1.5 percent at 8 weeks, 0.5 percent at 9 weeks and 0.7 percent at 10 weeks.
If you get a positive pregnancy test result, call your healthcare provider. They'll likely schedule an appointment eight weeks in where they'll confirm the pregnancy and its location via ultrasound, as well as run other important tests and screenings.
This is because it's not always easy to be sure of the exact date you became pregnant. For example, a fertilised egg may have implanted in your womb just 2 weeks ago, but if the first day of your last period was 4 weeks ago, this means you're officially four weeks pregnant!
Sonogram and big smiles
All you need for this second pregnancy announcement is a sonogram photo and your firstborn. Snap a picture of your little one while holding up the photo and you're all set.
There's no right or wrong time for when to tell your boss you're pregnant, but most women wait until shortly after their first trimester – when the chance of miscarriage has decreased significantly – and before their pregnancy has started to noticeably show.
You should follow your employer's sick leave procedures. Most employers will allow you to have a few days off without a doctor's note, but for longer periods of time they can ask for a doctor's note.
Many women tend to wait until after their first trimester to announce their pregnancy at work, for several reasons. Most miscarriages occur during the first 13 weeks of pregnancy,1 so you may prefer to share your news after that timeframe has passed.
Common First Trimester Miscarriages
Most miscarriages happen between 6 and 8 weeks gestation. We know that most of these occur due to a major genetic abnormality in the fetus. The sperm and the egg (which are known as gametes) each contain half the genetic material necessary for a complete person.
Your nausea and vomiting may be worse than ever: Morning sickness peaks around 9 or 10 weeks of pregnancy for many women. That's when levels of the pregnancy hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) are highest (morning sickness is thought to be linked to rises in hCG and estrogen).
While excessive stress isn't good for your overall health, there's no evidence that stress results in miscarriage. About 10% to 20% of known pregnancies end in miscarriage.
Depending on when you're taking it, there might be some benefit in taking one test and then a second one (again, a few days later). But cleaning out the entire drugstore shelf to be really certain? Yeah, no. Stick with two or go see your doctor to put any uncertainty at ease.
Most OBs count pregnancy starting from the first day of your last menstrual period (LMP). (It's more accurate for doctors to estimate a due date this way.) So if you think you conceived about two weeks ago, you're probably at least four weeks pregnant—maybe even five.