The Duchess of Cambridge is pregnant. Congratulations to her.
The world has found out "early" because she is so ill with it.
"Early"
Traditionally, and as this article from the BBC mentions, pregnancy (in the UK, at least) is not 'announced' for 12 weeks. I disagree with the reason for this given by the article:
"The three-month secrecy rule is usually abided by, however, so that if
anything goes wrong in the early stages, the expectant mother doesn't
have to face taking back what she's already announced."
I think that the pregnancy is normally kept secret for a different reason: superstition; a fear of jinxing the pregnancy by speaking it aloud and alerting the fey or malevolent forces of the baby's existance.
We live in a different world to those days when this was important. Medical understanding and access to sufficient nutrition mean that women are healthier and in a better position to look after themselves. We don't need to fear the bogeyman the way we did.
On the otherhand, miscarriages happen and what really annoys me about the quote from the BBc is that it ignores the greater problem. A woman who has miscarried needs support and understanding and she cannot expect that if no one knew she was pregnant. If people know, they will understand if she needs a bit of time. If they don't then she would have to explain far more to get the same understanding and rather than having to "face taking back what she's already announced" she is instead faced with having to speak about her dreams and the dashing thereof repeatedly.
I think we need to break this taboo and make it ok for women to talk about their pregnancy from much earlier. Not only will it mean that women who miscarry will not be afraid to ask for sympathy, but also it will demonstrate how common miscarriage actually is and give hope to those suffering.
