You’re Pregnant! Should You Tell People Right Away or Wait?

When you find out that you are pregnant you are instantly filled with emotions of excitement, anticipation, and often an overwhelming urge to tell everyone you meet. Many women do reveal their pregnancy the moment the find out about it, while others wait until their pregnancy has reached the 12 week mark before spreading the news. There are pros and cons to telling people about your pregnancy immediately and also for waiting until you are 12 weeks along.

Perhaps the biggest pro of telling people about your pregnancy right away is simply that you are able to reveal your exciting news. Pregnancy is something many women look forward to and getting the chance to reveal the good news is a wonderful part of it all. Waiting for 12 whole weeks may seem like an eternity for some. Another pro to telling people about your pregnancy right away is the fact that you have plenty of time to start getting hand-me-downs, baby advice, and other needs for the new baby. You’ll have 12 weeks less time to do all of necessary preparations if you wait until your second trimester.

What is probably the biggest con to telling people about your pregnancy right away (and thus a big pro for waiting until 12 weeks) is the risk of miscarriage. The vast majority of miscarriages happen during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. If you spread your good news right away, and then tragedy strikes, you will have the terrible misfortune of telling people about the miscarriage, and dealing with the numerous people who “don’t get the memo” and end up asking you how the pregnancy is going.

A big con to waiting until 12 weeks to tell others about your pregnancy is simply trying to hide it. Morning sickness most often strikes during the early weeks of pregnancy. If you are working or spending time around others, it will be difficult to hide the pregnancy if you are feeling rotten all the time, or even throwing up. Closer to the 12 week mark you may need to start wearing looser clothing too, so you could be faced with hiding your beginning baby bump. If you drink alcohol or even coffee on a regular basis, then suddenly stop, friends and coworkers may really wonder what’s up. Or if you refuse your favorite donut every morning for a week at work because you are so sick, people are definitely going to wonder. Trying to hide your pregnancy for 12 weeks is certainly a big con to waiting to reveal your big news.

When deciding how and when to reveal a pregnancy to friends and family, each woman or couple deserves the chance to make the decision, weighing the pros and cons. Weigh your options and whatever you decide know that everyone who hears your news will rejoice right along with you.