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Pregnancy is one of the happiest moments for any woman. Statistics show that every day, more than ten thousand babies are born. But even before the baby sees the true light of day, most women perceive that the pregnancy itself is a time to rest and take things slow.

But this is not the case for most women nowadays.

Many prefer to work and to get by their daily businesses as usual. We have seen this trend in athletes like Serena Williams, and even Beyoncé has graced the stages while pregnant with baby Blue.

And the list doesn’t end with singers and tennis legends.

Did you know that some of your favorite TV sensations have also gone to work pregnant and nobody noticed? Most of these actresses did a very good job of hiding their pregnancies on set. It took all the help they could get ranging from designer handbags, baggy t-shirts, coats, and props.

As a matter of fact, some of them had to act as superheroes who despite being heavy, could still take down the worst villains we have ever seen.

Some, however, did not have to put up with the hustle of hiding since their scripts accommodated their pregnancies. Let's have a look at some of the ladies we didn't know were pregnant while on set.

Ellen Pompeo

Ellen Pompeo delivered an exceptional performance in the blockbuster TV show, Grey’s Anatomy. But what was exceptional was more than her acting. This fine lass was actually pregnant all through the shooting of Grey’s Anatomy Season 6, and no one ever knew.

How?

Clever work on the producers' end.

Ellen Pompeo played as the lead character, Dr. Meredith Grey, who was married to Dr. Derek Shepherd. Nowhere in season 6’s script was she supposed to be pregnant but as fate would have it, she got knocked up by her real husband while the show was still airing.

So, the producers decided to do some clever cover-up. The original script was altered, and Dr. Meredith spent the larger part of the show dressed in oversized scrub suits. The producers even had Meredith donate her liver so that most of the time she spent was on the hospital bed covered in blankets.

This worked so well, that no one ever noticed the baby bump until Ellen delivered. And guess what, it was her first child. To date, she is blessed with two beautiful children.

Sarah Jessica Parker

Unknown to many, this sensational city girl played her role of a single and confident lady, in the hit show, Sex and the City, through her pregnancy.

While shooting of Season 5 of SATC in 2002, Sarah Jessica Parker was pregnant with her firstborn, James Willkie Broderick. This sudden turn of events quickly had the producers discussing whether her character, Carrie, should have a child.

The final answer was a big no.

Therefore, Season 5 was shortened to eight episodes instead of the thirteen episodes that were planned initially. This was to allow Sarah to have a maternity break and deliver her son.

And how did they manage to hide her baby bump?

Well, her character, Carrie Bradshaw, had a slight change of wardrobe. The costume designers dressed her in loose flowy tops that looked so good, that Carrie’s sense of style was not compromised. And guess what, everyone bought it.

Gal Gadot

It is all in the name of Wonder Woman. This fictional character, played by Gal Gadot, in Marvel Comics did not just represent the character, but also Gal Gaddot herself.

Let’s start off with the Hollywood accolades. She was ranked the first woman to play a superhero role successfully. Not only did she show that she was a force to be reckoned with, she also gave many girls the needed motivation to be heroes.

But here’s the big deal.

During the reshoot of Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot was pregnant with her first child. We are all still amazed by the stunts all through the movie with a baby in the oven.

Her dress team did a splendid job, using cloaks to cover up her bulging tummy. The green background made is super easy for the producers to hide her belly bump post-production.

Kerry Washington

Independent, fearless, busy, successful, and hardworking— these are just a few words that can be used to describe Kerry Washington's role as Oliver Pope in Scandal. But these traits should be extended to the woman herself, Kerry Washington.

Why?

The award-winning actress shot Scandal Season 3 with a baby bump, and the producers managed to hide it from the “all prying” eyes of the fans. According to the producers, they had no flexibility of changing the script since as per Oliver Pope’s character, she had no time for a husband, let alone a baby.

So how did they manage to do it?

Most of the time, Kerry hid her belly bump behind coats, files, and notebooks. For instance, she used to clutch her files and notebooks to her stomach and chest to mask the belly from the cameras. On top of that, she had a lot of close-ups which meant that less attention was being placed on her belly.

Debra Messing

Debra graced our screens playing the role of Grace Adler in the popular sitcom, Will and Grace. Since then, this pretty lass has ridden upon the show’s success and received a handful of accolades for it. To be honest, who else could have brought out the character of a quirky yet loveable lass whose roommate was gay and her best friend?

But the biggest accolade should go to the show’s producers and Debra Messing for the following reason.

While filming Season 3 of the show in 2003, Debra was pregnant. However, Grace was not supposed to be pregnant. Thus, the producers had her wear loose tops all the time. Additionally, they never took shots of her below the waist.

But the keen eye of the fans can always see what should be hidden. Grace’s face started getting a little too chubby than her usual skinny appearance. Thus, she briefly had to leave the show at eight months pregnant and skipped five episodes of Season 6.

Phylicia Rashad

Only a few staunch millennials would happen to know this lady. Well, this is because Phylicia starred in the Cosby Show in the late '80s. This was about the time most parents of the current millennials were thinking of going out on a date with their current husbands.

But for Phylicia, she was ready to have a baby.

Unknown to many, Phylicia Rashad was pregnant with her daughter, Condola Rashad, during the filming of The Cosby Show Season 3. But that wasn’t a time of great tech to mask of a huge baby bump post-production. So how did the production team do it?

Well, Phylicia tried hiding in oversized clothes and props on set. She also spent a lot of time hiding behind tables and kitchen countertops. Eventually, she delivered her beautiful baby and was ready to jump back on set.

And like a superwoman, she did a splendid job of losing all the baby weight before she returned for season four.

Jane Leeves

Though some millennials might know this shrewd actress, back in the day, a few of us could hardly recognize her as we were still in our diapers. Known for her role on Frasier as Daphne Moon, Jane Leeves was the female star of the American TV comedy in the '90s.

But what makes her more of a star, is how well she was able to hide her pregnancy all through the show Frasier.

When the Jane and the producers got to learn that she was pregnant just into the shooting of Season 5, the Frasier script was given a little twist. Daphne Moon was married to her lover and the character was supposed to gain weight as a result of the marriage.

But in the real sense, the whole weight gain was a cover up for the actual pregnancy. But what were they going to do once she has delivered?

Another weighty trick.

Soon after delivery, Daphne’s character lost exactly 9 pounds at 2 ounces. That was the weight of Jane’s real baby after delivery. Interestingly, the producers even had her character Daphne and her husband Niles get a baby, within that time period. However, the baby on set wasn’t her real one.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Julia Louis-Dreyfus is a household name in Hollywood. This lass has featured in several blockbuster shows such as The New Adventures of Old Christine, Veep, and the infamous, Seinfeld. What makes this lass exceptional in the Hollywood actresses sphere is her fierce passion and relentless excellence she delivers in her acting. And this can be backed up by her clever acting in Seinfeld Season 3.

Why?

Well, in 1991, during the airing of Seinfeld Season 3, Julia Louis-Dreyfus got pregnant. That was good news for her, but not for her producers and, especially, her character, Elaine. Nowhere in the script was Elaine supposed to be pregnant at that time.

So, Julia had to wear oversized t-shirts to cover her belly. She even hid behind furniture, laundry baskets, and, sometimes, used pillows to cover her belly when seated.

And who among you noticed? Probably a handful. That’s why she’s a respected actress.

Jane Krakowski

Being a new mother at 42 is no mean task. And being on set with an 8-month old pregnancy bump is something only a superwoman can do. And that is what Jane Krakowski is.

Jane became pregnant during the sixth season of 30 Rock in 2011. But that came with a tiny little problem to her character. Jenna Maroney, Jane’s character on set, was not supposed to be pregnant. For one very obvious reason, she would have been a terrible mother! So, her co-actors and actress decided that her pregnancy should be off camera.

What followed was a plethora of camera tricks which masked her big belly all through the shooting. One technique the production team used was having Jane wear a large dog suit.

However, keen fans were able to see off camera that Jane was pretty heavy, especially from sneak shots of her taken during shooting. Later on, in the show, she had to take a break and deliver her beautiful bouncing baby.

Amy Poehler

Parks and Recreations was, by far, one of NBC's best hits. But before we got the splendor of watching Season 3 in full, the cast had hit a little hiatus towards the end of Season 2.

Amy Poehler, who acts as the character, Leslie Knope, was pregnant.

The problem with this situation was that Leslie, the character on set, was a perpetually single lady on the show. She was not supposed to be pregnant.

Thus, the producers decided to start the shooting of Parks and Recreation Season 3 earlier than anticipated. That means that the first six episodes of the show were shot before her growing belly could no longer be contained.

But even past the sixth episode, the production team was not slowed down by Amy’s second pregnancy. They cleverly used objects and props on set to conceal her pregnancy.

But despite Amy’s alter ego never getting a kid all through Season 3, she landed on triplets towards the end of Season 6.

Kelly Rutherford

In 2008 during the airing of Season 2 of Gossip Girl, Kelly Rutherford’s character, Lily Vander Woodsen, was seen in the show rocking thick coats, scarves, and loose dresses. Befitting her character and status quo, all of them were designer. But did you ever ask yourself why?

Well, she was covering her baby bump. Not Lily, but Kelly Rutherford for that matter.

Kelly got pregnant with her second child right into the shooting of Gossip Girl Season 2. But since her character could not possibly have a child at that time, the production team had to resort to expensive wear to trim down the appearance of the baby bump.

However, this was not an easy time for the shrewd actress. She was also dealing with a bitter divorce case with her estranged husband. This case extended past the entire lifetime of the Gossip Girl series, to the point where three years after the show, she was still in a bitter custody battle with her ex-husband for her two kids.

Jaime King

Jaime King was pregnant during the airing of Hart of Dixie Season 3 in 2013. But instead of screaming “screw it” and leaving the set, she personally chose to stay. And not just until she was two months pregnant— she was on set until the day she had her baby.

Why did she make such a decision?

Well, according to Jaime King, she felt a lot safer around her crew members. She had a subconscious assurance that her crew would take care of her in case anything came up. And for sure they did.

When Jaime was almost due, her producers changed the script. According to the new script, her character, Lemon Breeland, left for her grandmother’s place. This allowed her to leave set giving her ample maternity leave.

And just like a superwoman, Jaime was back in front of cameras six weeks later. And few of you could still notice what has actually happened.

Courteney Cox

Courteney Cox’s real life has not been a smooth one, especially when it comes to conceiving. And interestingly enough, the character she played on Friends was just a mirror reflection of that.

Courteney played Monica Geller, a young lady who was having problems getting pregnant. The show ran smoothly for a couple of seasons, with both Courteney and her character never getting a child. Courteney herself even had to go through a wrenching miscarriage.

But then, good luck finally knocked at the door, while Courteney was on set.

She got pregnant.

During the final season of Friends, Courteney Cox was four months pregnant with her daughter, Coco. But since during the show her character, Monica Geller, was barren, the baby bump could not be seen on camera.

Thus, the producers resorted to baggy clothing, long scarves and props to hide the actress’ baby bump. Eventually, it was Courteney and not her alter ego who got her wish granted.

Lisa Kudrow

Lisa Kudrow was one of the stars behind the hit show, Friends, which used to air back in the '90s. Her pregnancy story, however, is not much like that of her fellow actresses.

Lisa did not have to try hard to hide her pregnancy on set. Why?

Her character, Phoebe, was to get pregnant during the airing of Friends in Season 4 and 5. But that was an alteration of the original script after Phoebe announced that she was pregnant. According to the new script, Phoebe was bound to be a surrogate mother for her sister-in-law, Alice, and her brother, Frank. And inside that belly, were triplets.

In real life, however, Phoebe wasn’t big enough to carry triplets. So unlike in other cases where they would tone her down, the crew puffed her up so that she would appear big enough for three babies to live inside her belly.

Alyson Hannigan and Cobie Smulders

This is more of a two in one. Alyson Hannigan and her friend and co-actress, Cobie Smulders, were both pregnant during Season 4 of How I Met Your Mother in 2009. And what’s worse, they were just weeks apart. Therefore, both pregnancies were at similar stages of development.

But, despite this smelling like double trouble for the producers, they did not let this kill the humor in the blockbuster comedy series.

So this is what they did.

The co-stars were seen donning loose fitting t-shirts and carry huge handbags to cover their bulging bellies. The camera crew was also not allowed to film any of them from the waist down, lest their baby bumps were exposed.

The show’s executive producer, Craig Thomas, commented on the situation, saying that he did not expect the two to be pregnant at the same time. At least Alyson’s was expected but Cobie’s was out of the blue. However, according to him, the whole shooting was still delightful.

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