"dark" pregnancy?

[HappyCake]

How common is it for a woman to forego any and all prenatal care in the united states? Any idea how many women out there are just having pregnancies and giving birth without ever being "seen" for their pregnancies?? What's the success rate on this one?And don't worry I'm not doing it, I was just wondering if women are still doing that or not... No need to get in a huff, I'm just asking a question.And what is it called when a woman doesn't get any ultrasounds/tests/ etc.?? Is it called a "dark pregnancy"?Thanks for looking.

[aloevera]

I heard a lot about women not getting any prenatal care, but there babies are still fine when born, but if you had a baby when you go to the doctor while pregnant they really don't do anything,they just check your health and measure you to see if the baby is growing

[LuckyMama06]

wow i couldnt imagine not seeing a doctor thru out my pregnancies! i tried searching "dark pregnancy" but didnt find anything sorry.

[Travis W]

my wife didnt go to the doctor at all till about 7months into the pregnancy.. our daughter was born healthy and just fine.. no strange illnesses, no retardation and none of that other BS...honestly.. if you keep yourself healthy and everything feels "normal" then you really dont have anything to worry about.. we did have an ultrasound so we could get a clue as to what the sex of the baby would be so we could plan things a little better..other than that.. our daughter is 100% normal and growing strong as ever

[♥love♥my♥marine♥]

i would think that it doesnt happen very often. Most women want to go to the doc and keep a close eye on their unborn baby. Obviously there are people out there that do this still but i would never recommend it. there are way to many risks not only for the baby but for the mother also!

[KooriGirl]

Well I worked with my people (Australian Aborigines) here in Aus as a Maternal Health Worker (outback midwife), and I can tell you, it's not uncommon for Koori girls to go through their entire pregnancy without ever seeing anyone for their prenatal checks. They usually just turn up at the hospital in active labour when it's too late to do anything other than deliver them and hope for the best.A lot of them don't even go to the hospital...my hubby's auntie in law had both her babies at home without ever being seen during her pregnancy.In fact, that was a large component of our work...seeking out the women who we'd heard on the grapevine were pregnant, and getting them to come in and have a few checks...we were quite successful too, and while I was working in the field, our infant mortality and morbidity dropped dramatically, as did the maternal mort. and morb.Historically amongst our people, there is a lot of fear, mistrust and suspicion towards doctors and hospitals related to past policies of child removal (not for abuse, but to assimilate Aboriginal children into the white community, see: The Stolen Generation). That was our main stumbling block, convincing scared mothers that their babies were not going to be stolen from them in hospital.

[belinda]

Where I used to live, there were plenty of women who were only seen a few times or not at all until it was time to deliver. They didn't have cars, didn't have health insurance, didn't have jobs. Of course, I know that there is medical insurance available to pregnant women, but these women rarely left their communities. I'm not sure why they didn't see midwives or OBs, but many of them didn't.