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Woman, 'unaware' she was pregnant, delivers baby into cesspool

62 Comments

Firefighters in Okayama Prefecture responded to an emergency call last week, reporting that a woman gave birth into a cesspool-type toilet and the baby fell in.

A similar incident was reported in China about a month ago, but this case sheds light on a lesser known mental condition.

The baby had fallen one and a half meters to the bottom of the cesspool at approximately 6 a.m. on June 27. According to the fire department, the baby was recovered unharmed at around 7:40 a.m. after firefighter broke through the toilet room floor.

The mother was taken to hospital and made a full recovery from excessive bleeding. Afterwards, she reportedly said, “I felt something uncomfortable in my body. I didn’t know I was pregnant.”

According to a study published in the British Medical Journal, this phenomenon known as “denial of pregnancy” is more common than originally thought. An informal survey conducted in Berlin suggests that the rate of denied pregnancies that last until labor is 1 in 2,455. This is three times more likely than it is to have triplets (1 in 7,225).

It is said to be a mental condition in which the expecting mother convinces herself she is not pregnant in spite of the changes occurring in her body. In some instances, this belief causes the mother to not gain weight or continue menstrual-like bleeding.

Source: Sponichi Annex

Read more stories from RocketNews24. -- Japanese Babies Daydream Too -- Man Faints and Falls into Cesspool Rescuing Woman Who Fainted and Fell into a Cesspool
-- Women in China Using New “Pregnancy Pads” to Score Seats on Trains

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62 Comments
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I could never believe a woman who says that. How can you NOT know you're pregnant (at least in the last trimester)? With the baby moving and kicking, and the other changes in your body, And what about the labor pains?

5 ( +14 / -9 )

Some women should not be allowed to have children... definitely tie off her tubes.

0 ( +12 / -12 )

Me neither sensei. Of course they know...

0 ( +11 / -11 )

I wonder how old this 'mother' was is...

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Maybe she hid the pregnancy (for whatever reason) and was trying to get rid of the baby.

-1 ( +7 / -8 )

In some instances, this belief causes the mother to not gain weight or continue menstrual-like bleeding.

The brain is powerful - she may not have known.

8 ( +15 / -7 )

It was a baby girl. Hope she never finds out.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

It does say in the article that there IS such a "medical/mental" condition. Had she really wanted to "hide" the birth, she would never have called the authorities and the baby would not have been saved. It seems we're all so very quick to condemn someone when there could very well be extenuating circumstances.

15 ( +22 / -7 )

Woman, 'unaware' she was pregnant, delivers baby into cesspool = Mother Earth spawns the Human Race

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

I believe it. Everyone is arguing about the physical attributes of pregnancy. You brain is capable of anything. Ask anyone with paranoid delusions how real their perceptions are. Women are responsible for bringing people to this earth and its impossible to believe that all of them will be 100% fit to be up to the task at any stage. Humans are vulnerable to failure. No one mentioned anything about the father of the baby being in denial also. What about him?

9 ( +13 / -4 )

Would she not really notice? It's hard to believe.

-2 ( +4 / -6 )

Surprise births seem to happen far more often than one might think. See for yourself: Google "didn't know she was pregnant" and see how many results come up.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

Her logical part whispers yes but her emotional part shouts no- which part is more powerful?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I believe this to be true as I once knew a woman who was grossly over-weight and constantly had stomachaches. Even her husband had no idea she was pregnant. Her menstrual cycle was always irregular and and they simply thought she was putting on more weight. Her stomachaches suddenly got worse and she had to call an ambulance, in which she delivered the baby! Some people are very naive and so out of touch with their bodies, but, such is our world!

13 ( +14 / -1 )

Actually know someone very close to me that went 9 months without knowing she was pregnant but in this case this woman is insane, a toilet?

3 ( +4 / -1 )

I didn't check all the other comments, but you know, TLC did make an entire series out of this kind of thing, right? if you want to look for it, the name of the show is quite apropos -- "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant."

3 ( +3 / -0 )

@Cracaphat

Does this thread benefit one iota from the term 'put out'?

Why not conjecture that she wore hot pants and extra long eyelashes, too?

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Not knowing depends. I know of a case first hand where the young woman had a history of digestive disorders and abdominal discomfort. She had sex once--her first time--and used protection. She and her boyfriend decided not to continue having sex but remain friends instead. She was deeply shocked to learn she was pregnant more than 5 months into the pregnancy.

When I read of such cases, I always consider what I do not know about the person in question. Compassion, people. Compassion. In this the Buddha was correct: Acting and thinking from the vantage of compassion is never wrong. In fact, it should be our default position--always.

4 ( +8 / -4 )

@Educator60

So WHO, in your opinion, called the ambulance ?

@gogogo

but in this case this woman is insane, a toilet?

She didn't know she was pregnant... people usually have to go to the toilet anyway and that's when she found out...

4 ( +6 / -2 )

I am saddened by the comments here. If she is found to be 1)mentally unstable 2)a known neurosis why all the attacks. Just because this is the internet we shouldn't say such things. Most of you wouldn't stand outside a mental institution and ridicule the people inside.

11 ( +16 / -5 )

another aspect is that does she has friends and relatives?, because if she is suffering from some psychological or mental problems then her relative and friends might noticed the changes in her body. in some remote area of the world when a girl get pregnant, this is the relatives and friends who teach her that she is pregnant. in this case was she so much isolated?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

According to a study published in the British Medical Journal.....................,

This statement is just misleading the story. There is nothing to say in this story weather or not she actually had this problem or even appeared to be pregnant. On the contrary, if she really believed she was not pregnant but obviously was, she would have also discarded the baby and not believed that she gave birth either. Typical misleading JT story. Readers should be careful what they react to when reading any news. News agencies love to whip people into a frenzy.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Abnormal psychology proves such a mental condition is prevalent among some mentally ill women.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Some people learn at a very early age that all they need to do to get of trouble is to just say, "Wow, I didn't know..."

0 ( +2 / -2 )

The lady is in her 40s. The woman was on a Japanese-style toilet, and the baby got stuck in the toilet pipe. It didn't fall into the "cesspool". She called emergency services and saved the baby, so I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Not just a toilet, but "cesspool" sounds like the old fashion benjo. Why not say that instead of "cesspool"?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I'm sorry, but to a large extent 'denial' is something you are fully aware of, and consciously engage in. There is no such thing as unconscious denial -- you would have to force yourself for some time, using all of your will, in an attempt to forget or deny something, and it therefore cannot be unconscious. When someone or something you love dies or is otherwise lost, you KNOW it's gone but simply refuse to accept it and/or cannot deal with it. It does not mean you don't know. True, people can drive themselves mad not being able to accept it, but it starts with knowing.

There is far too much denial in these sorts of cases in Japan as it is -- "The family had no idea (after the daughter gave birth to a baby in a toilet stall and left it there)," etc.

-3 ( +4 / -7 )

I am sure there are all sorts of reasons for the "denial" as humans have for denial of other obvious aspects of their lives. I have also heard of ppl who actually don't know they are pregnant.

I don't think that all babies kick and move the same amount and for someone in denial or not noticing, mere occasional kicking could be seen along with morning sickness as some kind of low grade flu.

What is the cesspool? Is this a euphemism for turds in an outdoor outhouse?

"three times as likely as giving birth to triplets"- there's one for the numerologists in the house...

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Born into a "cesspool"(?) This kid can only go up from there. Good luck in life!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Born into a "cesspool"(?) This kid can only go up from there. Good luck in life!

Considering all the fears of infections from dirty hands and surfaces during delivery, I'd say if this baby survives without any long term damage it should consider its self having won the lottery of life!

All the best little one!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

What is a "cesspool-type toilet"? According to everything I've checked a cesspool is a cistern, pit or pipe for receiving household waste and sewage, waste and sewage that come from toilet pipes, for example. Who uses a cesspool as a toilet? What am I not understanding here? Is this different from a squat toilet?

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

What is a "cesspool-type toilet"?

It's the old-style type of toilet; a squat toilet that is literally a hole over a pit that is emptied out every so often by the 'vacuum car' (honey wagon). Look down and you can see ... stuff you probably don't want to see. They used to be ubiquitous in the inaka where the water supply came from a well and a sewer system was non-existent, but thankfully most (apparently not all) have been replaced with flush loos.

Isn't it amazing that the same country that is known for its fully-automatic bells-and whistles, dancing, speaking, wash-and-dry-your-bottom, auto-cleaning loos also still uses open holes?

3 ( +3 / -0 )

What is a "cesspool-type toilet"?

That name comes from a translator or editor that is looking to do one thing, get your attention in any manner possible. The common name for these types of toilets is a "pit" toilet, and like cleo noted they are pretty darn rare.

Depending upon the type of pit toilet some also are set up like septic tanks.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Zichi: Very hard and shocking for westerns to experience.

I don't know what delicate little group of westerners you hang out with but I don't really know any that would find it "very hard or shocking to experience", certainly not any more so than many of the Tokyo princesses that I know. What Cleo and you have described is basically an outhouse. If you've ever been camping, stayed in a cabin or even just been to an old house in parts of the States or Canada, you might well have seen them. The slighter nicer ones that are put up at construction sites or public events are port-a-johns, though with a seat rather than just a hole. As Yubara stated, the use of "cesspool-type toilet" was what threw me and seems to be either a lazy translation or attention getting misuse of the language.

Thumbs down for a question? Really? Now that's just petty.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

zichi, and cleo

thx. yes, I know what an outhouse is, i just wasn't sure of the use of the word cesspool here, because i've never seen it used for outhouse before.

Unfortunate birth, although if the mother really didn't know she was pregnant, then it probably provided a better cushion than other things would have. Count his lucky stars he was born healthy and have no shame.

zichi,

persoally I have used them several times, if you go hiking it is usually all there is, but I have used them in America too, so I don't know why you say that. Maybe shocking for "city ppl who don't hike" in Japan or the west. would be interested to know how you got involved in mt rescue in Japan.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

She didn't know she was pregnant... people usually have to go to the toilet anyway and that's when she found out...

A baby doesn't just "fall out", she had to know something was wrong when all the bleeding started (article). She just stayed in the toilet, did not call for help and let the baby fall into the toilet?

Sorry the woman is insane.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

zichi-

wakarimasita. i know those toilets can be connected too, but are outhouses more often in my xp. climbing in japan can be great. i've only done local hikes in recent years, but used to go to big mts 1x or 2x a yr. S Alps was probably the biggest highlight but there's a lot of nice places in the rettou, ain't there.

craca-

you recommend jt to your students?? wow, I dunno if I would do that, for a number of reasons. maybe you are a new comer, but often articles are like this, w/ important details missing. I don't think it is always jt's fault tho.

gogogo-

there are actually more or less frequent cases of unrealized births. depends on the size and weight of mom, size of baby, at what stage it is birthed (ie premie), condition of mom's body and other things. the blood and the pain that we think is ubiquitous from TV/movies can really vary in actuality from individual to individual.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

zichi: "Maybe, Americans and Canadians have a different meaning for the word, meaning none flushing toilet. Can someone inform me on that please."

No, you're correct -- an outhouse is traditionally a toilet outside and slightly separated from the house (watch any cowboy movie and inevitably someone is in the outhouse when the door is flung open and they are caught with their pants down and shot). The term may be applied to a kind of unit that has been attached to the house (not originally built in) but functions similarly, but I'm not too sure about that.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Maybe she was just a little bit pregnant? That's easily mistaken.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

People who argue from disbelief should check argument fallacies...both formal and informal.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Maybe she was just a little bit pregnant? That's easily mistaken.

Pray tell how in the world can any woman be "a little bit pregnant" and be "easily mistaken"? She was either pregnant or not.......plus if she was a "little bit pregnant" as you assert here how in the world did she deliver a baby that lives?

According to a study published in the British Medical Journal, this phenomenon known as “denial of pregnancy” is more common than originally thought. An informal survey conducted in Berlin suggests that the rate of denied pregnancies that last until labor is 1 in 2,455. This is three times more likely than it is to have triplets (1 in 7,225).

Considering that this is Japan, and the health education system as it is.....poor at best......is easier to believe than using England's study as a guide, I for one would have appreciated the article stating the age of the woman who gave birth to the child.

If she was a teenager MAYBE it would be a understandable reason, not being familiar or knowing their own body very well yet at that age. However if she was in her twenties or older, her excuse is harder to understand or believe.

Once again.....stirring a pot!

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Believe it or not? Up to you!!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

According to the vernacular 47news, the woman is in her 40s. She 'didn't feel quite right' but didn't think she was pregnant. If it wasn't her first, it could be that the baby could just slip out (the sensation of pushing is very similar...). Not every pregnancy feels the same. I know a lady who didn't realise until she was over 6 months gone that she was expecting her second; she found out when she went to the doctor feeling 'out of sorts'.

http://www.47news.jp/CN/201306/CN2013062701001480.html

4 ( +4 / -0 )

A baby doesn't just "fall out", she had to know something was wrong when all the bleeding started.

Every woman's experience is different. Again, from first-hand knowledge, some have no pain and the experience is much like emptying the bowel. Not many, but it happens. Also, women with dysmenorrhea experience excessive blood flow monthly. Nothing unusual there, and many women have that condition. Some also bleed through the entire pregnancy. In their minds, their cycle has continued. Many women have failed to know they were pregnant because of that. If any of these possibilities or scenarios were the case with this woman, she might not have guessed she was pregnant. As well, there is also the real possibility of extreme ignorance. If it was denial (a form of mental illness) we are wrong to pass judgement or assign blame.

It seems that ignorance is not confined to the woman in question. Since there is so much we do not know (and can only speculate), again I suggest compassion as the only response to the situation. Yes, compassion.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Isn't it amazing that the same country that is known for its fully-automatic bells-and whistles, dancing, speaking, wash-and-dry-your-bottom, auto-cleaning loos also still uses open holes?

It's not. What is amazing is that sanitary conditions related to toilets in this country now exceed the standards in many countries, including Europe and North America. A gap which has been bridged in a very short time. The fact that the old style hole in the ground toilets still exist can be attributed to the inaccessibility of homes in e.g. mountainous areas and the unwillingness of home owners to allow their homes to be connected to newly constructed sewer systems.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

zichi-

I was writing lazily/ hastily. There are two things- a toilet into a pit, called a cesspool here, and an outhouse, which is detached. An outhouse can theoretically flush, tho usually the image is pit, and a toilet in the house could theoretically be pit style not flush, tho in this day and age, uncommon. I was just saying I know that pit type can be attatched, but didn't know what to call it, and was using the word "outhouse" to mean "pit type". Even often in J mt camp-huts, they often aren't outhouses, but attached. Still a pit tho. I went to one that was attached to a hut, no longer usable hut, but the toilet "worked" I suppose. The pit out back was just onto a slope, no walls, no real pit! It was a couple meters drop tho. Unused so hillside black from old "stuff". It was kind of scary going to it, cuz it's like yr squatting on a ledge and could fall. Light coming up from the floorboards and all. Even the walled-off ones, you feel that empty space below and don't want to fall imo.

Kamikochi was the big famous place I was putting off going to when I was hiking, and still haven't been. One day. My image is just so crowded, though.

As for unrealized pregnancy, it seems we have established with opinions from many that babies sometimes do come out without creating as big a sensation as one might expect.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I get that every woman is different, but I cannot for the life of me understand how someone could not know they were pregnant the entire 9 months. Maybe one or two things didnt follow the norm (still menstruating for eg) but ongoing sickness? Leg cramps? Back problems? Unexplained weight gain? Baby movements? Hard to miss when their little feet are jammed up against your ribs. Not saying its not true, just find it really hard to understand!

/

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Anyway the baby seems to be alright. Thanks to the fire fighters, Good job.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

So where is the compassion for the baby on this thread??? I see PLENTY of compassion for the mother here, but very little for the baby. That speaks volumes for me about the way most people think.

-6 ( +1 / -7 )

What a way to come into earth! Straight into a hole full of poo.....

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

While rare, instances of not being aware of pregnancy are more common than you think and is not the result of stupidity. Not only did my friend barely get a bump, she had no nausea or other unusual symptoms and even had regular periods.

If anything, I feel immense pity for these women. It's enough of a shock to figure out you're pregnant, it's quite another thing to figure out you're in labor. The strain is incredible and adding on the social pressure of being told you're a moron for not realizing you're pregnant, these types of births are very hard emotionally for the mother and father.

Imagine if tomorrow, out of the blue, you find out you now have a baby girl despite having no time to prepare emotionally or monetarily. If you seriously take a moment to consider it, that is an incredibly traumatic thing.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

@Lowly: Sorry babies are not over sized poops, the article says she had excessive bleeding, so it was not just a simple mistake, the baby wasn't born early because it was alive and well

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

she had to know something was wrong when all the bleeding started

the article says she had excessive bleeding, so it was not just a simple mistake

Isn't it likely the baby falling ripped the placenta out of her, and that caused the excessive bleeding - after the baby was born, not before?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

If the woman was in her 40s, she may well have thought that a cessation in her menstrual cycle and weight gain was due to perimenopause. Any woman on this site who reads women's magazines has probably come across numerous articles on mid-life weight gain. Additionally, premenopausal women often assume they can't get pregnant and since the symptoms for pregnancy and menopause are very similar, they could easily be confused. We don't know what this woman's mental health is, what her intelligence level is, how aware she is of bodily health issues, etc. If she had never been pregnant before she may not have understood what the movement was, assuming she felt it. Yes, it's easy to mock this woman and assume the worst but with the limited information we have to go on, that's all we can do is assume, so as has been said before, why not make assumptions based on compassion.

YogiZuna: So where is the compassion for the baby on this thread??? I see PLENTY of compassion for the mother here, but very little for the baby. That speaks volumes for me about the way most people think.

I haven't read any comments that show a lack of compassion for the baby. I think it can be assumed that the posters feel compassion for the baby so there's no need for you to make negative assumptions in that regard.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Isn't it likely the baby falling ripped the placenta out of her, and that caused the excessive bleeding - after the baby was born, not before?

How can you defend this selfish witch? She had a baby into a pool of human waste!

When things start to hurt and blood starts to flow you call for help, get out of the toilet, yet she stayed in there and the baby fell into the toilet.

She is crazy and needs to be locked up.

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

When things start to hurt and blood starts to flow you call for help

How many labours have you experienced? Neither of mine were particularly painful, and in each case there was very little blood - much less than a normal period - until after the birth.

I'm not defending anyone, just saying it's not totally impossible.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

gogogo-

overreacting a little? I really can't comment anymore than I already have because I am neither a dr nor a mom, but I believe what I said above: with the billions of us that there are, there are all kinds of pregnancies and births, and depending on weight and size of mom and infant, condition of the vaginal canal etc, all sorts of things can and do happen.

As for blood, I have cut myself badly, not realized it and felt a weird warm sensation on my skin which I didn't realize was blood, because I wasn't looking because I wasn't thinking anything more than a minor sensation was occurring in my hand. It really didn't start hurting until I tried opening it and washing it. Even more so if she is in an outhouse, it is a black pit and you wouldn't know it was blood or what going down there if your pains were minimal.

Or, of course, you could be right and she was "accidentally on purpose" denying she was pregnant. We don't know.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

cesspool - noun - a cistern, well, or pit for retaining the sediment of a drain or for receiving the sewage from a house.

So depending on what the toilet drained into, it could very well have been a cesspool.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

googoo: How can you defend this selfish witch?

Selfish witch? Do you know anything about her besides the fact that she said she didn't know she was pregnant?

She had a baby into a pool of human waste!

If she was actually unaware she was pregnant then she may have thought she sick, in which case it would be natural to go to some sort of toilet.

When things start to hurt and blood starts to flow you call for help, get out of the toilet, yet she stayed in there and the baby fell into the toilet.

Really, how many women do you know who are capable of getting out of the toilet and calling for help once the blood starts to flow? Once the baby starts to crown, not too many women are going to be getting up and trying to find someone to help them out.

She is crazy and needs to be locked up.

Yeah! That'll fix 'er!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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