Woman, 21, gives birth while on the toilet after not realising she was pregnant
A woman has posted a number of TikTok videos about her cryptic pregnancy after giving birth on the toilet.
For the majority of women, there are many telltale signs to being pregnant like a growing stomach, morning sickness, raging hormones and strange cravings in the middle of the night.
But those symptoms did not come for 21-year-old university student Teagan Brill, who reportedly had no idea she was pregnant until she delivered her son herself on February 16, 2021.
In an interview with TODAY Parents, Ms Brill said that she went into labour – without any idea she was nine months pregnant – while on the toilet.
Ms Brill claimed a week before her son Owen’s birth, she had text messaged her then-boyfriend, now-husband, Mitchell Brill, saying that she was “fat or pregnant”. She had also taken a pregnancy test which was positive – but assumed that she was early in the pregnancy and that the couple – who were in a long-distance relationship at the time – had time to process the news.
The day Ms Brill gave birth
On the day that Ms Brill gave birth, she had stomach cramps.
She assumed that she was having a miscarriage and called 911 (emergency services) to explain her situation.
As she was speaking to the attendant on the phone, her stomach pain was insurmountable.
The operator said to her: “Breathe, talk through it, talk to me”.
Then Ms Brill looked down at the toilet bowl and said to the operator: “I think I am giving birth.”
In that moment, Ms Brill took it upon herself to pull the baby out. When the baby felt the toilet water, the operator and Ms Brill heard the newborn cry for the first time.
What is a cryptic pregnancy?
Medical professionals say Ms Brill had a cryptic pregnancy – a rare situation where a woman is unaware that she is expecting for a period of the pregnancy or up until the day she gives birth.
A study from the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine shows 1 in 475 women discover that they are pregnant at more than 20 weeks and 1 in 2,500 just prior to their baby’s birth.
In Ms Brill’s case, she did not have any symptoms associated with pregnancy, had been on contraception and her menstrual cycle had not changed in any way. The nurses at the hospital informed Ms Brill that being six-foot tall meant that her son formed up and behind her ribs, which had stopped her from looking pregnant and growing a stomach.
Telling her family
Ms Brill told TODAY Parents that Mr Brill and members of their respective families processed the news in different ways.
As soon as Ms Brill arrived at the hospital, she called her mother and said: “Do you want the good news or the bad news first?” She then told her mother that she was now a grandmother. At first, Ms Brill’s mother was anxious and panicked and wanted to ensure that Ms Brill was in good health – but then insisted that she be the one to tell Teagan’s father.
Ms Brill’s roommate called Mr Brill, who was living in Colorado at the time. In shock, Mr Brill responded to the roommate: “Yeah, I’ve got to go to work now.”
Mr Brill’s father began shovelling snow when he first discovered that he was a grandfather.
Two days later, Mr Brill flew to Michigan to meet his son for the first time.
“It was a big relief to be like, ‘Oh I can hold you,’” Mitchell told TODAY Parents.
The baby that changed Teagan’s life forever
Owen Louis Brill was the only name for the baby, Ms Brill told TODAY Parents. After saying the name “Owen” out loud, her son had reacted on two occasions. Louis was the natural choice for his middle name after Teagan’s grandfather, Louis, contracted COVID-19 and passed away.
When Ms Brill graduated in May 2021, she and Mr Brill got married with Owen in tow. Now, one year later, the three of them live in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
When Owen had his first birthday on February 16, Teagan felt the need to post about his birth on TikTok to ensure others were not alone.
The caption read: “when I randomly had a kid one Tuesday morning senior year of college and put all my friends in therapy forever”.
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