Congratulations, you’re pregnant!

While some women can’t wait to tell their family, friends, and the world the good news, others postpone their announcements until later for a variety of reasons. Keep reading to find out the pros and cons of announcing your pregnancy earlier than usual and a pregnancy announcement timeline.

Why announce your pregnancy? – Pros and cons

You may feel like you want to tell everyone about your pregnancy as soon as you get a positive test result, or you might rather wait to tell certain people. Here are a few pros and cons of announcing your pregnancy early.

Pros of announcing earlier

• The need for support
  You may feel that you need the emotional or physical support of others early in your pregnancy. You could have decisions you need to make that can sometimes be helped or eased by sharing your news with others.

• Avoiding work hazards
  If you work in a labor-intensive job or are in contact with chemicals or anything that could cause harm to your pregnancy, telling your employer early in the pregnancy can relieve you of your physical or hazardous duties.

• Announcing directly
  Many pregnant women prefer to announce their pregnancy before others start to figure it out for themselves. Turning down drinks, getting morning sickness, and subconsciously holding your belly or taking notice of baby-related topics can give away your announcement before you had a chance to make it.

Cons of announcing earlier

• Miscarriage risk
  One of the most prominent reasons for announcing a pregnancy later is the risk of miscarriage. Each day and week of pregnancy reduces this risk, and research shows that waiting until week 14 can reduce miscarriage risk to just one percent.

• Pregnancy milestones
  You may feel that you want to reach a particular milestone before your announcement to family, friends, coworkers, and the world. Waiting until your first OB appointment at eight weeks can confirm your pregnancy, and waiting until week 18 to 22 can tell you the anatomy, health, and gender of your baby.

• Questions and concerns
  You might be in a circumstance that would raise concerns and constant questions from family or friends that you are just not ready for. If you want to save your announcement until you are mentally and emotionally prepared to hear the questions or concerns of some family or friends, you can decide to announce once you are further along.

How do I announce an unexpected pregnancy?

It may be the case that your pregnancy was unexpected. You still need to announce your pregnancy at some point, but how?

• With your partner: If you have a partner that is ready to be the parent of your child, it is important to have a thoughtful discussion with them about your future of parenting. The two of you will be a unit through this process, and it’s critical to have a mutual understanding of how you will manage through this journey before hearing comments and suggestions from others.
  
  
• On your own: You may have the circumstance of being a single parent to your future baby. Taking time to fully understand your decision is vital before announcing your pregnancy. Being confident in yourself and your choice can make it easier to tell others about your unplanned pregnancy.

Whether you are announcing your unexpected pregnancy with or without a partner, be prepared for comments, concerns, and critiques. Everyone has their own thoughts on pregnancy, and some may find it helpful to give you their advice, especially with an unplanned or unforeseen pregnancy. Anticipating these questions and considering your responses can make the announcement easier to make.

Pregnancy announcement timeline

Every soon-to-be mother will have a slightly different schedule for when they decide to announce their pregnancy. Not to mention the pregnancy cravings that soon come. However, the following timeline can give you some helpful information regarding pregnancy milestones and when you can or should announce your pregnancy to the people in your life.

Day 1: Being positive

It’s day 1, and you just looked at your home pregnancy test to find a positive result. Congratulations, you’re pregnant!

While you probably have a thousand different emotions and thoughts going on, you might want to take another test. While very few false positives occur, being completely positive that you are currently pregnant can ensure that whoever you decide to tell early in your pregnancy will be receiving a valid announcement.

Days 1 to 2: Share with your partner

The first person to tell the news to is your partner. Whether your pregnancy was planned or a complete surprise, it is essential to involve your partner in your thoughts, emotions, and ultimate decisions that you have to make.

You might be celebrating with a baby dance, or you could be having a thoughtful discussion. Either way, sharing the news with your partner can help you both understand the journey you are about to share.

Another task to complete is estimating your due date. Your first ultrasound and upcoming appointments will give you a more refined due date, which will also tell you about when your baby was conceived. Still, you can make an estimate from the moment you received a positive home pregnancy test result.

Conception can happen minutes after sex or up to five days later. If you received morning sickness or have been trying to conceive and frequently take home pregnancy tests, you will have a better idea about your conception and due date. If your pregnancy was a complete surprise, you will have a broader range of possible conception dates.

Mark the day you believe in having conceived, and mark your potential due date in your personal calendar. Your estimation will be asked by the doctor, who will be able to provide you with a more specific due date once they find out how far along you are.

Week 1: Make an OB appointment

Within the first week of getting a positive test result, you should call your hospital and make your first OB appointment.

Your current or new OB doctor will ask about conception date, which is why you made your estimation on day one. Based on your estimate, the doctor will schedule an appointment for about eight weeks after conception. This could be seven to eight weeks from your call, or it could be much sooner.

Your first appointment will confirm your pregnancy and tell you how far along you are. You will get a due date, an ultrasound picture, and you will be told a lot of information about your pregnancy journey, including a list of upcoming appointments.

Weeks 9 to 12: Announce to grandparents

Unless you’ve already decided to celebrate the news with your and your partner’s parents, the weeks following your first OB appointment is the perfect time to tell the baby’s grandparents the good news.

Many women wait to tell anyone until after their first appointment to ensure their pregnancy test result was indeed positive and to know that her baby is thriving. Nine weeks also comes with a decreased chance of miscarriage at just 10%.

Whether you and your partner call your parents or meet them in person to show them the ultrasound picture, announcing to the baby’s grandparents is a special time that can be celebrated. It can be a relief to tell someone else about your pregnancy, and future grandparents are first on the list. Just make sure they can keep a secret, and inform them that you want to announce to others yourself.

Weeks 12 to 14: Announce to family and friends

A great time to announce your pregnancy to your family and friends is between weeks 12 and 14. After 12 weeks, miscarriage risk drops to 5%, and passing week 14 gives you a 99% chance of a successful pregnancy.

The order in which you announce your pregnancy to family and friends is entirely up to you. While some decide to tell their entire family first, you might decide that your best friend and other close friends come first. Your friends might already know based on the past three months of declining drinks.

Similar to announcing to the baby’s grandparents, you want to make sure you are clear about the confidentiality or publicness of your announcement. If you still have other people to announce the good news to, you want to make sure that you are the one to decide when they hear it and who they hear it from.

Your family and friends should understand your decision, and they could very well be humbled that you told them before going public and trust them with your announcement.

Weeks 14 to 18: Tell your employer

There may be circumstances that lead you to tell your employer about your pregnancy much earlier than week 14, including work hazards, physical labor, doctor appointments, and time off. However, if you haven’t yet told your employer, now is the time to do so.

Your baby bump will begin to show early in the second trimester, and if your pregnancy was a secret to the world up until this point, it won’t be a secret for much longer. Stopping work gossip will only happen if you are the one who makes the announcement.

Start with human resources if your employer has an HR department. They will be able to provide you with information about maternity leave and other relevant procedures and maternity rights.

The next person to tell at work is your supervisor or manager. Discuss your duties, future absences, and upcoming maternity leave. You will have a discussion about whether or not you plan to return to work after your pregnancy and the details of your return.

Once human resources and management know about your pregnancy, it’s time to announce the news to your coworkers. Based on your individual circumstances and position at the company, you may decide to tell each colleague one at a time, or you may announce it to the whole team during a meeting. As exciting as the news may be for you and your coworkers, make sure your excitement doesn’t take away too much from work production.

Weeks 18 to 23: Tell the world

You are just about halfway through your pregnancy, and you’ve announced your pregnancy to all of the important people in your life. Your family, friends, employer, and colleagues are all in-the-loop, and it is now the time when you decide to tell the world about your exciting news by publicly announcing your pregnancy.

Between week 18 to 22, you will receive an anatomy scan, which will show you information about the baby’s growth, developing organ systems, and even more exciting—the gender!

You may decide to reveal your news publicly by including the gender of the baby, or you can make it public knowledge first. Many soon-to-be mothers enjoy revealing the gender of their baby at a party or get together with family or friends.

Because you now know the gender of your baby, this can be a great time to talk with your chosen friend or family member about your baby shower if you decide to have one. Knowing the baby’s gender can help friends and family make more thoughtful decisions about gifts for you and your baby.

You’re halfway there!

Week 20 marks the halfway point of your pregnancy, and this can be an exciting time. Your baby bump will seem like it’s growing daily, and the time will fly by very quickly.

Announcing your pregnancy can be a meticulous process, and it can be a huge relief once it is public knowledge. It’s now time to make plans and preparations such as the baby nursery, baby shower, and getting ready to become a mommy.

Conclusion

You can use this timeline more as a guideline for your personal announcement decisions. Every pregnancy is unique, and each woman has their own thoughts about how they want to reveal their pregnancy to others. Whatever you decide, we hope this timeline helps guide you in your pregnancy journey. And, if you haven’t heard it enough, congratulations!