Sometimes you don’t want to shout the good news that you’re pregnant from the rooftops.

With my last pregnancy, given the statistics for my age, I was paranoid there might be a problem, so I waited until I had the top line results from the amnio. By week 18 I had put on nine kilograms and my boobs had ballooned there was no hiding the fact I was well and truly pregnant. Luckily the last few weeks prior to the announcement were our annual summer break so we were out of town.

But by the time I went back to work in January it was obvious to my workmates, who had already seen me through two pregnancies that I was up the duff, AGAIN! Needless to say, they didn’t fall off their chairs in surprise when I told them the news!

Friends later told me they thought I had been over indulging over Christmas and had packed on the weight – sweet!

There are many reasons that you might not want the world to know your news. And there are a few simple things you can do to keep it that way.

Here are five tips for hiding your baby bump when you want to keep mum in trimester one. These can be used in combination for full camouflage arsenal.

1. Layer it

It’s harder to see if you’re front on, but the sideways profile is the dead give away that there’s a bun in that oven. This is where layers can help by breaking up a single line from top to toe with a bump in between. Try a long-line fitted singlet under a cardi finished with a scarf. Love layers for interest, texture and distraction, which brings me to trick number two.

2. Distract it

Draw the focus away from your middle and up north to your face or down south to your legs.

3. Make it disappear with black

Thank goodness for black and other dark colours that recede making it hard to get a focus on what’s going on with your belly. Use a single dark colour from head to toe for a longer, leaner monochromatic silhouette. Alternatively, with basic black trousers or skirts, add bright coloured jackets, ponchos, wraps or cardis that leap forward while the bump recedes.

4. Disguise it

This is the classic technique that will keep people guessing, or even better, not even aware that you’re changing shape. Confuse the focus on the belly profile making it harder to see if you are or if you aren’t preggers.

5. Shape it

Don’t go all 70s with voluminous maternity dresses with smocking, pleats and gathers – these can make even the non-pregnant look months overdue. Shake it up and combine some loose balances with something fitted so you’re not shouting out “I’m pregnant”

For more detail about how these five ways of keeping mum in T1 work, pop over to Pregnancy Panache.