Many women do not want to wait until after the first trimester before announcing within the family that they are expecting a baby. The risk of miscarriage is highest in the first three months of pregnancy and women often have a superstitious fear of triggering a miscarriage by announcing it.

This is a very common phenomenon that is based solely on superstition and not on medical facts. A miscarriage usually occurs when the pregnancy does not go well or the foetus is not healthy. If you are particularly careful during the first three months, you need not worry about a miscarriage under normal circumstances. Whether you tell your family about the pregnancy or not, if a miscarriage occurs, it would have happened in any case.

In fact, it is particularly helpful to let people know about your pregnancy early so that they are more understanding and considerate. If you wait to tell your colleagues at work, they may even expect heavy lifting or long periods of standing, which in turn would increase the risk of miscarriage.

So if you are excited about a new baby, you should share this with your family and friends so that you can get through the particularly critical first three months with moral support.