A mom from a close-knit town in England says she kept her pregnancy a secret from family and friends — by moving away, deleting her social media accounts, and wearing baggy clothes.
Olivia Finch, 30, became pregnant by her partner, Rob, 31, in August 2022 — just 10 months into their relationship and 13 months after she finalized her divorce from her ex.
“It may look like I’d moved on quickly — but in reality, I mentally checked out of my last marriage a while before we divorced. So, in my mind, it wasn’t quick,” Finch told SWNS.
Finch — who hails from Shrewsbury, Shropshire, which has a population of about 76,000 — decided not to tell anyone about the pregnancy other than close family members for fear of being judged.
“I hid my pregnancy because I didn’t want to be the talk of the town — but I do have regrets,” she admitted.
“It was easy at first,” she noted. “I didn’t show for the first 12 weeks — by which time we were well into winter — so it was big coat, jumper and scarf season.”
Finch met Rob, a plumber, online on Oct. 30, 2021.
She had been with her ex for a decade, including four years of marriage — his friends and family were still a big part of her life after the divorce.
Already a mom to a toddler, Finch called the unplanned pregnancy a “lovely surprise.”
But she moved towns to prevent anyone from learning about her bundle of joy.
“Given that I still lived in the same town as my old partner, everyone knew about me,” Finch explained.
“They made it clear they were never, ever going to be against me — and they knew about Rob. But because I fell pregnant so quickly, I was scared of being judged for moving on,” she continued.
She decided to delete her social media accounts, except Snapchat, when she found out she was expecting.
An estate agent, Finch managed to hide her bump from clients by staying behind her desk at work.
She avoided social gatherings, but if she did attend one, she would drink alcohol-free wine and wear loose-fitting outfits and lots of layers.
“It definitely wasn’t one of those cases where I didn’t show — but if I was to go out, I’d wear black leggings and loose tops with a coat and a scarf,” Finch explained, noting that her belly became pronounced in November 2022.
“By this time, it was well into winter — so I could get away with wearing baggy clothes,” she reasoned.
She says she even traveled miles out of the area to enjoy a day out with Rob — for fear of somebody spotting them.
Finch said she felt like she missed out on crucial moments with her friends and family near the end of her pregnancy — when she needed support the most.
She was told by her midwife that she’d need to have a C-section instead of a vaginal delivery — her daughter was in the 99th percentile for her head and stomach.
Finch managed to speak with her sister-in-law, Jade, 32, who was due two weeks after her, on May 1, for reassurance — but she wasn’t able to open up to friend Harriet, who’d had three C-sections.
“It was my choice, but I felt like I wasn’t able to confide in anyone,” Finch lamented. “I couldn’t ask my friends about what to expect from my C-section — or ask them how theirs went. It was stressful.”
Finch is not alone — celebrities Mindy Kaling and Kylie Jenner are among those who have kept pregnancies secret.
Finch gave birth to daughter Ronnie on April 17 at Telford Hospital in England, shocking her loved ones.
She announced Ronnie’s arrival via FaceTime — she weighed in at 8 pounds, 15 ounces.
“Everyone was completely shocked but over the moon — and couldn’t wait to meet her,” Finch gushed.
Even though Ronnie is 8 months old, Finch says people are still discovering she exists.
“I saw someone I used to see quite often in the town — she saw I now have a 7-month-old, and she was like, ‘What?’” Finch described.
Her partner, Rob, says keeping the pregnancy a secret was “stressful, but worth it.”
“I was on hand to support her the best I could,” he said of Finch. “Ronnie was measuring big towards the end of the pregnancy, so there was the added stress with that and not knowing what was to come with the C-section.”
He added: “In the end, it was all worth it when revealing Ronnie to everyone and watching their reactions. Priceless.”