Authorities in Southern California said they are investigating after a newborn was discovered dead in the bed of his 17-year-old mother, who said she did not know she was pregnant until she gave birth. 
 
 Police said the teenager’s parents called 911 on Monday evening from their home in Chula Vista, near San Diego, after they found the infant’s body while making the bed. The girl’s parents reported a “non-breathing” baby to emergency dispatchers, police said. 
 
 “The child appeared to be have been born hours or days prior,” police said in a statement. 
 
 “The parents of that minor found that child deceased in the bed anywhere from 24 to 36 hours later and called us,” Chula Vista Police Lt. Fritz Reber told NBC San Diego. 
 
 Reber told the station that the newborn boy appeared to be full-term and weighed 7 pounds, 8 ounces. 
 
 When authorities spoke to the teenage girl, she told them she had been unaware she was pregnant until she gave birth while she was in bed, police said in a statement. 
 
 [Woman gives birth to 10-pound baby just an hour after discovering she’s pregnant] 
 
 Reports of women who didn’t know they were pregnant surface in the news from time to time. 
 
 A 23-year-old Boston area woman gave birth last year to a 10-pound baby girl, and said she didn’t know she was pregnant until just before her daughter was born. 
 
 The mother, Katherine Kropas, said that she was on birth control and kept her menstrual cycle, and that she attributed the weight she gained to holiday gluttony. 
 
 “I thought I had put on some Christmas season weight,” Kropas told CBS Boston at the time, “but I never thought I was pregnant. Never.” 
 
 [She was a teen mom. Here’s where she is eight years later.] 
 
 Helen Cheyne, a Royal College of Midwives professor at the University of Stirling in Scotland, wrote an essay this week about “cryptic pregnancy” or “pregnancy denial,” arguing that such cases “are not particularly rare.” 
 
 Cheyne, writing for the Conversation, said some women never experience the telltale symptoms of pregnancy — morning sickness and noticeable weight gain. 
 
 “The physiology and psychology of concealed and cryptic pregnancy are different and both are complex,” she wrote. “However, they may be difficult to distinguish in these rare and tragic cases. There are many uncertainties surrounding childbirth and even today many, superficially straightforward aspects of pregnancy and birth remain poorly understood. 
 
 “While we may continue to read these news reports with some disbelief, we must ensure that we respect and protect the women behind these tales of the unexpected.” 
 
 [Abortions hit historic low, but only in developed countries] 
 
 Authorities in Chula Vista have not determined a cause of death in the most recent case. 
 
 Chula Vista police and the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office are investigating to determine whether a crime occurred in the newborn’s death. 

 Parents found a dead 7 pound 8 ounce newborn that appeared to have been carried to full term while making their teenage daughter’s bed this week, police in Chula Vista said. NBC 7’s Wendy Fry reports. (Published Wednesday, May 11, 2016) 
 
 Parents making their teenage daughter’s bed this week found a dead newborn that appeared to have been carried to full term, police in Chula Vista, California, confirmed Wednesday. 
 
 Officers were called to a home on Main Street after 8 p.m. on Monday. The home is located east of Hilltop Drive and west of Interstate 805 in San Diego County. 
 
 Someone from the home called 911 to report a non-breathing child. 
 
 "The parents of that minor found that child deceased in the bed anywhere from 24 to 36 hours later and called us," CVPD Lt. Fritz Reber said. 
 
 Investigators say the family found the newborn boy while making a bed. Reber said the 7-pound, 8-ounce infant appeared to have been carried to full term. 
 
 After interviewing the residents' 17-year-old daughter, police said the teenager gave birth to the child 24 to 36 hours before the 911 call was made. 
 
 The teenager said she was unaware she was pregnant and unknowingly gave birth to the child while in bed, according to a police news release. 
 
 The cause of the infant's death wasn't immediately known. 
 
 Chula Vista Police and the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office are investigating the newborn's death to determine if a crime has occurred. 

 Community 
 
 On 5/9/16 at about 8:20 pm, Chula Vista Police received a 911 call from a residence in the 4000 block of Main Street. Fire was immediately dispatched on an apparent report of a non-breathing child. Chula Vista Police were called to the scene about 20 minutes later, at about 8:40 pm, when Fire personnel found a new-born deceased male child in a bed. The child appeared to be have been born hours or days prior. Crimes of Violence Investigators were called to the scene and determined that a 17-year-old female gave birth to the child approximately 24-36 hours earlier. The juvenile mother claimed to be unaware that she was pregnant and unknowingly gave birth to the child while in bed. Some time later the parents of the 17-year-old found the deceased child while making the bed and called 911. COV is interviewing witnesses and coordinating with the Medical Examiner’s Office to determine if a crime occurred.
– Parents in Chula Vista, California, were making their teenage daughter's bed on Monday when they made a grisly discovery: the body of a newborn. NBC San Diego reports the parents called 911, and police interviewed their 17-year-old daughter. The teen said she didn't know she was pregnant and "unknowingly gave birth to the child while in bed," according to the Chula Vista Police Department. The baby boy weighed 7 pounds, 8 ounces and appeared to have been carried to term. Authorities believe he had been born between 24 and 36 hours before the teen's parents found him. The cause of death for the newborn is not known at this point, and authorities are working to determine if a crime has been committed. The Washington Post quotes Royal College of Midwives professor Helen Cheyne, who says it is "not particularly rare" for women to be unaware of their pregnancy, either for physiological or psychological reasons. “While we may continue to read these news reports with some disbelief, we must ensure that we respect and protect the women behind these tales of the unexpected," she says.