Woman Training for Marathon Has Surprise Baby
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WDIO-TV(DULUTH, Minn.) — Trish Staine thought the aches and pains of a two-hour run were just one hazard of training to run a half-marathon. But Staine’s soreness was instead a sign that she was in labor.
A day after completing a two-hour run along a hilly road, Staine was admitted Monday to the Essentia Health-St. Mary’s Medical Center in Duluth, Minn., with severe pain in her back. Emergency room doctors told Staine and her husband that she wasn’t injured, she was about to have a baby.
Staine’s baby girl was born five weeks early at a healthy weight of 6 pounds and 6 ounces. Staine and her husband were completely surprised by the birth because she had not gained significant weight or missed periods.
Although it is rare to a have pregnancy undetected until birth, Dr. Shilpi Mehta-Lee, assistant professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the NYU Langone Medical Center in Manhattan, said that according to studies, about 1 in 2,500 births are not detected until the baby is delivered.
Mehta-Lee, who did not treat Staine, said that some women have difficulty psychologically accepting they are pregnant, which can result in a medical condition called “denial of pregnancy.” She cautions, however, that some women do not realize they’re pregnant simply because they display no traditional symptoms of pregnancy.
“This [story] is a great opportunity to step back and say I haven’t gotten my period or my period is irregular,” Mehta-Lee told ABC News of other women who might be missing the signs of pregnancy. ”It’s never too late. Better to initiate [prenatal] care 20 or 30 weeks [into a pregnancy] than never initiating care.”
Staine and husband John have two biological children of their own, plus John’s two sons from a previous marriage and two foster children.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio