How commonly are people pretending to have premmie babies to avoid seeming like they are having kids out of wedlock?
I read a post on Reddit (not sure what sub) about a mother who was judging her daughter for having her kids out of wedlock. The daughter realised her mother's eldest was 3 or 4 month premature but born at 4kg, completely healthy and didn't need to stay in the NICU or require any medical intervention. She realised that her mother likely got pregnant out of wedlock, scrambled to have a shotgun wedding then fudged the baby's conception date to be after the wedding, which is why the official story was that the baby was 3 months "premature". I later heard a story from a friend of mine who insisted that she was born at 26 weeks gestation back in 1995, but didn't spend any time at the NICU. According to her doctor (or her parents' retelling anyway), her "lungs were so underdeveloped she didn't actually need any support to help her breathe". I thought this story was extremely bizarre until I remembered that her parents are very religious and it might make more sense that they got pregnant out of wedlock, got a shotgun wedding and then adjusted her "due date" accordingly, and she was actually not premature at all.
Now I'm wondering how common this might have been, especially in older generations where, (1) having children out of wedlock was more frowned upon, and (2) antenatal care and pregnancy ultrasounds weren't as common so ageing the foetus wasn't as accurate and this was easier to get away with.
Is it something that still happens commonly today? How many "premmie" babies in older generations aren't actually premmie? Are the medical staff in on the ruse or is this just a lie the parents tell the rest of the family? I would imagine, especially these days, that your estimated due date needs to be as accurate as possible for health reasons and your OB and midwives wouldn't go along with a ruse like this?
I'm hoping someone here is in healthcare or has personal experiences to shed some light!