When she did not know she was pregnant, a high school student gave birth to a baby girl in the canteen of the Cité Scolaire in Amiens (Somme), after a denial of pregnancy.
- A denial of pregnancy may or may not be accompanied by the death of the child in the first 24 hours of life, by neonaticide.
- After a denial of pregnancy, about 20% of women entrust their children for adoption, according to the CNGOF.
On November 10, a BTS student gave birth to a child in the canteen of the Lycée Edouard-Gand in Amiens, in full lunchtime service. According to the Mail Picardthe young patient, aged 21, was having lunch with her comrades, when she felt violent pains in her lower abdomen. “Impossible to suspect that she could be pregnant, she had a flat stomach”Vincent Picot, manager of the catering service teams who came to the aid of the high school student, told the newspaper.
Surprise delivery: “we could already see the child’s head”
Faced with this urgent and surprising situation, the 52-year-old man, trained in first aid gestures, knew how to keep his cool. He called the fire department and evacuated part of the canteen. He laid the student on the ground behind screens. At that time, he realized that the work had already progressed well. “She told me she felt something pushing. I told her to put her feet on my knees and push hard. You could already see the child’s head,” said Vincent Picot. Some time later, a little girl, weighing about 2.5 kg, pointed the tip of her nose. “I was relieved when I realized that the mother and the child were fine”, said the manager.
Every year, 1,500 to 3,000 women deny pregnancy
The high school girl has indeed made a denial of pregnancy. In France, 1,500 to 3,000 women are confronted with it each year, according to the University Hospital of Lille. “Pregnancy denial is defined as the fact that a pregnant woman is unaware of being pregnant. It is said to be partial if it ends before term and total if it continues until childbirth”, indicates the National College of French Gynecologists and Obstetricians (CNGOF).
In case of denial of pregnancy, patients do not doubt that they are pregnant because their body does not show any of the usual signs of pregnancy. Clearly, the latter continue to have their period and do not feel their child move. “The announcement of pregnancy is a trauma for these women but also for the relatives, with an impact on the experience not only of childbirth and the postpartum period, but also sometimes on the establishment of the mother bond. baby, even parenthood”, explained Dr. Carine Schoemacker, child psychiatrist at the Jeanne de Flandre Hospital in Lille.
