History Main / PillowPregnancy

* In the ''Series/FullHouse'' episode "The Volunteer", it's a "pad" instead of a "pillow", but the trope applies all the same otherwise. Rebecca has Jesse strapping a pad around his waist to get him to truly understand what being pregnant is like.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* In the "Escape From Pain" episode of ''Anime/{{Trigun}},'' [[TwoMenOneDress Milly smuggles a teenage girl under her coat]]. Though the girl is pretty petite, and Milly rather tall, the resultant bulge is still large enough that she attracts curious scrutiny (including one old woman asking if she's expecting sextuplets), though she still manages to use this to fool the people chasing the girl she's hiding.

* Website/DeviantArt user [[http://badboych.deviantart.com BADBOYCH]] did an artwork of [[TotemPoleTrench two boys disguising themselves as their very pregnant mother in order to visit their very sick grandmother in the hospital.]] It can seen [[http://badboych.deviantart.com/art/Ready-to-go-POP-474721662 here]].

[[folder:Film]]
* Julia Roberts's character in ''Film/OceansTwelve'' is coerced into doing this so she can pretend to be Julia Roberts... [[CelebrityParadox wait]]...
* Creator/AngelinaJolie does it in the movie ''Film/TakingLives'', though she uses a more convincing prosthetic to convince Ethan Hawke that she's eight months pregnant with his child, so that he'll think she's unable to fight back when he attacks her. [[spoiler:In the end, she shoots him dead, and then finally removes the prosthetic to show the audience that she had been faking her pregnancy for nine whole months, simply to bait him.]] This also creates an opportunity for a particularly disturbing KickTheDog moment on the part of Ethan Hawke's character, who [[spoiler:stabs her "pregnant" belly with a pair of scissors, evidently willing to kill her even though he believed her pregnant with his own twins...]]

* In the movie ''Film/YoungDoctorsInLove'', a prostitute named Julie uses a balloon to fake her pregnancy (she was making HeelFaceTurn out of the business), but a Jerkass [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqMnsKAuMbc doctor pops it]] in a KickTheDog moment.

* Briefly done for a gag in ''Film/BrainDonors''. Literal ambulance chaser Roland T. Flakfizer arrives at the scene of a minor car accident and sees a woman passenger. He immediately sticks an instant-inflating pillow under her dress and starts loudly yelling about the liability costs.

* Frances [=McDormand=] wore a pregnancy suit while shooting ''Film/{{Fargo}}'' because her character Marge was heavily pregnant and remarked that the extra weight and bulk really helped her get into character.
* In ''Film/SecretCeremony'', Cenci (Mia Farrow) play-acts at being pregnant by stuffing a plush toy frog under her dress.

* ''Film/NarrowMargin'': On the run from mob killers, the female protagonist sticks her hands in the pockets of her jacket and pushes it out to make herself look pregnant, so Gene Hackman's character can talk an elderly couple into giving up their private cabin so they can hide out of sight.
* In ''Film/FunnyGirl'', Fanny Bryce has a pillow in her dress to make her appear pregnant while singing a song about how incredibly sexy and desirable she is. She had felt uncomfortable singing such a thing seriously, so she did it as a parody instead, and there's a scene of her removing the pillow backstage while all her costars laugh hysterically.
* In ''Film/BabyMama'', Angie invests in a prosthetic belly when another pregnant woman points out that they're equally far along, but Angie isn't showing. The fact that this makes her go from a flat stomach to a hugely round one overnight goes unremarked upon. [[spoiler: And since it turns out she actually was pregnant anyway, it turns out to be unnecessary.]]
* ''Film/NotCool'': The main characters try to shoplift a watermelon from the grocery store by having Tori put it under her shirt and pretend to be pregnant, only for Tori to trip and fall on the way out, [[CrossesTheLineTwice splattering the melon and sending everyone in the store into horrified screaming fits]].
* ''Film/SASRiseOfTheBlackSwan'': There's a woman sweeping the leaves at the gate of the mansion the SAS are about to raid who claims to be six months pregnant. She turns out to be a guard wearing a belly pouch, a BulletproofVest and an automatic weapon under her coat.

* In the short story "Golden Girl" by Creator/EllisPeters, while a pregnant woman is taking a sea voyage, the ship is damaged and starts to sink. After the woman puts on a life jacket, one of the ship's officers drops her into the sea so she can be rescued by nearby boats. Much to his surprise, she sinks straight to the bottom. It turns out that she had been smuggling 30 pounds of gold bars in the padding under her maternity smock.

* ''[[Literature/IfLifeIsABowlOfCherriesWhatAmIDoingInThePits If Life is a Bowl of Cherries -- What Am I Doing in the Pits?]]'': An unintentional example appears in "Fashions and Fads that Underwhelmed Me". Erma wearing a pillow stomach (for girls who want a healthy appearance) caused two men to give up their seats and lift her into them and another to call the police to report a woman in labor. Consequently, the "stomach" was retired to the couch.

* An episode of ''Series/{{MASH}}'' had Klinger try this in yet another attempt to get out of the Army. Col. Blake didn't buy it for a second.

* This occurs in an episode of ''Series/OperationRepo'', in which a woman fakes being pregnant, even going so far as to fake going into labor, in order to keep her car from being repossessed. When her ruse is found out, the Repo team is not happy.
* In the "Harlem Globetrotters" episode of ''Series/TVFunhouse'', the team accidentally travels back to the first Christmas, where they decide to play Mary, Joseph and some others in a game of basketball for who gets the inn as opposed to who sleeps in the barn. Naturally, the Globetrotters PWN the Bethlehem players until Baby Jesus is born, after which he begins defeating the Globetrotters with his miracle powers. Meadowlark then gets one of his brilliant ideas and takes a hint from Mary by pulling a Pillow Pregnancy with the basketball under his shirt, in order to sneak past and score the winning basket.

* In a deleted scene from ''Series/{{Firefly}}'', River, in one of her crazier moments, uses a pillow to pretend to be pregnant... so Book can [[FatherIWantToMarryMyBrother marry her to Simon]].
* Infamously, Terri on ''Series/{{Glee}}'' fakes a pregnancy for months on her husband by doing this (and not allowing him anywhere near her).
* From ''Series/TheGoesWrongShow'':
** In "The Lodge", Vanessa plays a pregnant woman, so she has a balloon stuck up her shirt. [[RunningGag It bursts every time she or someone else touches her belly]]. At one point it gets out and floats tethered alongside her as her character moves around the set--and it's also a bright blue that shows through her pajama shirt when she gets a chance to put it back.
** In "The Nativity", Sandra plays the Virgin Mary and has a bowling ball stuffed beneath her costume, with little effort made to obscure its spherical shape. The ball also falls out onto other characters' toes.

* The episode "Better Than Life" of ''Series/RedDwarf'' features Rimmer's wife pregnant in a VR simulation. In the outtakes, she blows a line and says "Sorry my pregnancy fell out"

* On ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'', Maggie Lizer is supposed to be a surrogate mother, but after she couldn't get pregnant she delegates it and pretends to carry the baby with a realistic false belly.
* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'' did this with a shoplifter, who got the items out of the store by putting them inside her clothes and making herself look pregnant. Stella and Danny have a bit of fun with her, admiring how her ankles haven't swollen at all and how she's still able to wear heels. When Danny causes two stolen items fall out of her shirt by knocking on her stomach, Stella congratulates her on twins.
* Done in ''Series/GoodLuckCharlie'' when Amy and Teddy go to a restaurant to get some salad dressing that supposedly induces labor (Amy was a few weeks late on her latest pregnancy). Teddy managed to sneak into the restaurant's kitchen and steal the dressing then tried to tuck it underneath her shirt as if she too was pregnant. Unfortunately one of the employees found her out straight away.
* ''Series/TheBill''. A pregnant woman working in a car factory is smuggling out spare parts for resale. She overdoes it by remaining 'pregnant' for ten months.
-->"Congratulations. You've just given birth to a bouncy brake pad."
* Done in ''Series/HardcorePawn'', where a woman had a pad strapped around her chest to make herself look pregnant and fed Ashley a sob story. Trying to be nice, she sold the woman a rocking horse for half off and told her to come back after she had the baby to possibly get a job. The pad fell off in the parking lot while they were loading the rocking horse in her truck.
* Employed by the handful of SoapOpera women determined to carry their FakePregnancy to term:
** On ''Series/DaysOfOurLives'', Kristen padded her clothing after miscarrying John's baby, fearful that he would leave her otherwise.
** On ''Series/{{Passions}}'', [[{{Yandere}} Beth]] does a variation of this in [[TheBabyTrap an attempt to lure Luis away]] from Sheridan, who actually was pregnant (although in the latter's case, it was not known if either [[WhosYourDaddy he or his brother, Antonio, whom she was married to at the time, was the father of the unborn child.]]) What method did Beth end up using instead of a big, fluffy pillow? ''A bag of sugar,'' which at some point was even burst open ''[[OhCrap in the middle of an obstetrician's office.]]'' Oddly enough, although Luis was once concerned about why the baby wasn't kicking in her stomach when he placed his hand on her belly, [[TooDumbToLive he never did figure out that the pregnancy was fake.]]
** ''Series/OneLifeToLive'''s Alex does this, coming up with medical excuses as to why she and husband Carlo can't have sex and why he can't come to the doctor with her. Ex-husband Asa finds out what she's up to and rips off her dress in public, literally exposing her secret.
** A humorous version on ''Series/GeneralHospital'', when Luke and Laura returned to town and needed an excuse as to why they were speeding. When they were inevitably pulled over, Laura pretended to be in labor.
* In the LifetimeMovieOfTheWeek "The Baby Snatcher", a woman employs this in a desperate attempt to keep her husband from leaving her. As her due date approaches, she tries to legitimately adopt a baby before finally resorting to kidnapping one. (This is BasedOnATrueStory. In fact,it's one of [[Series/HomicideHunter Joe Kenda's]] cases)
* One episode of ''Series/CallTheMidwife'' has a mother pull this in preparation for a planned FamilyRelationshipSwitcheroo involving the child of her pregnant teenaged daughter.

* ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'':
** In the episode "The Jimmy-Jab Games", the cops play a game where they go undercover and talk to as many people as possible without being recognized. Amy dresses as a pregnant woman using a pillow, but her cover is blown when she accidentally moves it to the side.
** In the episode "Maximum Security", Amy again goes undercover as a pregnant inmate in a women's prison. Unlike the previous time, Amy's actress actually was pregnant in real life.

[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
* ''Series/TheMuppetShow'': In the John Cleese episode, Miss Piggy sings "Waiting At the Church" while dressed as a jilted, pregnant bride.
-->'''Kermit:''' ''[at the end of the number]'' Now will you take that silly pillow out from under your dress?\\
'''Miss Piggy:''' ''[fiercely]'' I like it!
[[/folder]]

* [[HookerWithAHeartOfGold Doll Tearsheet]] is accused of this in ''Theatre/HenryIVPart2.'' Productions that don't cut the scene entirely sometimes imply that she is actually pregnant (after all, she is seen to be suffering from nausea in her first appearance).
* ''Theatre/FunnyGirl'' plays this for comic and not deceptive effect. Fanny Brice is cast in the Ziegfeld Follies as the bridal star of the grand finale "His Love Makes Me Beautiful." However, Fanny thinks she's [[HollywoodHomely far too ugly for any man to sing about her rapturous beauty]], so she plays the number for laughs by [[ShotgunWedding sticking a pillow under the belly of the wedding dress she's wearing]], and singing to match.

* In [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=816 this]] ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' strip and the next, Lisa pretends to be pregnant with Amanda's baby using a pregnancy sympathy suit [[ItAmusedMe just to mess with her]].
* In ''{{Webcomic/Drowtales}}'' it turns out that Zala'ess Vel'Sharen was doing this during her negotiations with Quain'tana, with the suggestion that it served a dual purpose of making her look good (as drow culturally value motherhood immensely) and as a dig against Quain, who's infertile and very sore on the subject. It also [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?sid=10631 saves Zala's life]] when a would-be assassin attempts to stab her there and hits the pillow instead, leaving her unharmed.

* In ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeRenegades'', Scarlett--after a pair of failed {{Bavarian Fire Drill}}s--poses as a trailer-trash babymama to infiltrate a prison that Duke is in.

* An episode of ''Series/TheMuppetShow'' had Miss Piggy singing "Waiting At The Church" while apparently heavily pregnant. At the end, Kermit asks her if she's going to take that silly pillow from under her dress.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Pretending to be pregnant by stuffing a pillow (or ball) in one's shirt is frequently seen in children's play for both girls and boys, especially if a child is expecting a younger sibling. This is a natural part of young minds trying to make sense of the world around them.
* According to ''[[http://books.google.com/books?id=NKIkl0eRErAC&pg=PA1&lpg=PA1&dq=A+circus+dwarf+was+swallowed+by+a+hippo:+a+guide+to+hoaxes&source=bl&ots=ZDUPoklXZU&sig=HFmvPlmOy5Kma7yNgKY0l2GBcTQ&hl=en&ei=ELH0S_j7B4G78gb4pNy0Cg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CCsQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q&f=false Hippo Eats Dwarf: A Guide to Hoaxes and Other B.S.]]'', the fake pregnancy is a classic con: usually going that a girl pads herself up and then pretends that she wants to put the "baby" up for adoption, getting whoever wants to adopt the baby to pay her in advance (possibly multiple couples at once!). She then runs off, never to be heard from again.
* British War Correspondent Kate Adie wryly describes in her autobiography avoided a stop off in Argentina during the Falklands War by pretending that she was pregnant with the aid of one of her male colleagues and a cushion.
* High school projects:
** Another example is Erin [=McGaw=], who faked being pregnant for a school project. She fooled everyone for three months, until her teacher pulled the plug.
** Another high school girl, Gaby Rodriguez, carried out a similar project - eventually earning the attention of national television and [[https://www.amazon.com/Pregnancy-Project-Memoir-Gaby-Rodriguez/dp/1442446234 getting her a book deal]]. Only her mother, her boyfriend, her best friend, and her school principal knew the truth.
* The ''Series/{{Monk}}'' example up above is very much true for shoplifting and drug smuggling. However, the version in which someone ''guts a real baby [[{{Squick}} and stuffs it full of bags of coke]]'' is still merely an UrbanLegend.
* Also true for some baby thieves; unable to have children of their own, they fake pregnancies and then kidnap a baby at about the right time, fooling people around them into thinking the new child is actually theirs--the LifetimeMovieOfTheWeek cited in the TV section is BasedOnATrueStory and is in fact one of the Series/HomicideHunter's (Lieutenant Joe Kenda) cases.
* There have been a few cases where it gets much worse, and women have [[{{Squick}} murdered and cut open actual pregnant women to steal their unborn children.]]
* Subverted in at least one case, where a pregnant woman was detained at a department store under suspicion that she was shoplifting a basketball.
[[/folder]]

* In ''Series/{{Friends}}'', Monica has decided to shoplift a blue sweater as her "something blue" and "something borrowed." She shoves it up her blouse and has a quick maternal moment.

** Chelonia's twin brother Mark once dressed up as her to talk in her place with their mother Rose. As Chelonia is pregnant at this time, Mark imitates her pregnancy with a weather balloon under the shirt, which annoys his sister.
** Dethany requests to her mother Ann, who is visiting soon, that she not look up any information on her before coming. When Ann arrives, Dethany greets her with a distended belly, only to pull out a pillow and reveal she was kidding.

* In one ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'' strip, Jason and Marcus have pillows under their shirts. At first they're bugging people with "I think we ate too much Halloween candy" and then when that doesn't get a reaction, it's "I think we're pregnant."

* On ''Series/DesperateHousewives,'' Bree uses a fake belly to convince her friends she's pregnant rather than admit that it's really her teenage daughter who's pregnant. She even passes the child off as her own for a bit, but when Edie finds out and tries to blackmail her, Bree confesses the truth to her friends, who forgive her.

* In ''Series/{{Friends}}'', Monica has decided to shoplift a blue sweater as her "something blue" and "something borrowed." She shoves it up her blouse and has a quick maternal moment.

* A similar stunt was pulled on ''Series/KateAndAllie'' in TheEighties, to hide Susan St. James' pregnancy by stuffing Jane Curtin to match in one episode. (They justified it by making it a flashback episode to when the title characters were pregnant with their daughters.)
* An episode of ''Series/{{FX}}'' had criminals try robbing a gold depository and threaten to shoot a pregnant woman. She is released by the criminals later, only for her to report the police activity on the ground. They eventually discover that she isn't pregnant using thermal imaging, but only after the news reporter said it wasn't necessary and could be told by how she was walking.

* An episode of ''Series/TheATeam'' had Murdock posing as a pregnant woman (long story). Instead of a pillow, Murdock's "baby" was a bag filled with dynamite.

* Frances [=McDormand=] wore a pregnancy suit while shooting ''Film/{{Fargo}}'' because her character Marge was heavily pregnant, and remarked that the extra weight and bulk really helped her get into character.

* In ''Film/BabyMama'', Angie invests in a prosthetic belly when another pregnant woman points out that they're equally far along but Angie isn't showing. The fact that this makes her go from a flat stomach to a hugely round one overnight goes unremarked upon. [[spoiler: And since it turns out she actually was pregnant anyway, it turns out to be unnecessary.]]

* An episode of ''Series/{{FX}}'' had criminals try robbing a gold depository, and threaten to shoot a pregnant woman. She is released by the criminals later, only for her to report the police activity on the ground. They eventually discover that she isn't pregnant using thermal imaging, but only after the news reporter said it wasn't necessary and could be told by how she was walking.

* In the "Harlem Globetrotters" episode of ''Series/TVFunhouse'', the team accidentally travels back to the first Christmas, where they decide to play Mary, Joseph and some others in a game of basketball for who gets the inn as opposed to who sleeps in the barn. Naturally, the Globetrotters PWN the Bethlehem players until Baby Jesus is born, after which he begins defeating the Globetrotters with his miracle powers. Meadowlark then gets one of his brilliant ideas, and takes a hint from Mary by pulling a Pillow Pregnancy with the basketball under his shirt, in order to sneak past and score the winning basket.

** Making it even more interesting: Natalie's actress Traylor Howard actually ''was'' pregnant during filming of this episode and the second half of season 5 as a whole. For most of her scenes in the other episodes, including the scenes where she isn't passing herself off as pregnant, [[HideYourPregnancy they shot her with special camera angles to hide her lower body]], such as having her stand behind an open car door, sitting down at Captain Stottlemeyer's desk, etc. By writing in a faked pregnancy for the plot, the producers were able to shoot Natalie's scenes after she shows up at the Buchanan house the same they'd shoot any other episode.

* In a newer episode of ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'', Mr. Krabs attempts this when [[spoiler:he steals money from an arcade with Gary.]] He pulls it off until Spongebob arrives.

->''[Natalie has passed herself off as pregnant to Paul Buchanan]''
->'''Adrian Monk:''' How did you do that?
->'''Natalie Teeger:''' See, Mr. Monk, when two people love each other, they want to express that love... ''[gestures to her chest]''
->'''Adrian Monk:''' What?
->'''Natalie Teeger:''' It’s a pillow!
->'''Adrian Monk:''' Uh, well, that explains almost nothing.
-->-- ''Series/{{Monk}}'', episode "Mr. Monk Is At Your Service"

[[folder: Advertising ]]

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* In the first episode of ''Anime/CowboyBebop'', a woman named Catalina fakes a pregnancy by stuffing ''drugs'' up her dress. Yes, you heard right. She smuggles drugs in a fake belly. What happens to her in the end [[TearJerker is heartbreaking]].

--> '''[[DeadpanSnarker Nobue]]:''' Well that was fast.

[[folder: Comics ]]

[[folder: Fan Works]]

[[folder: Film]]
* Julia Roberts's character in ''Film/OceansTwelve'' is coerced into doing this so she can pretend to be Julia Roberts...[[CelebrityParadox wait]]...

* In ''Film/TheSureThing'', the risks of over-doing the fakery are lampshaded:
-->'''Allison''': What do you think - nine months?
-->'''Gib''': (pulls out one of the pillows) More like fifteen.
* Frances [=McDormand=] wore a pregnancy suit while shooting ''{{Film/Fargo}}'' because her character Marge was heavily pregnant, and remarked that the extra weight and bulk really helped her get into character.

* ''Film/NarrowMargin'' (1990). On the run from mob killers, the female protagonist sticks her hands in the pockets of her jacket and pushes it out to make herself look pregnant, so Gene Hackman's character can talk an elderly couple into giving up their private cabin so they can hide out of sight.

* ''Film/SASRiseOfTheBlackSwan''. There's a woman sweeping the leaves at the gate of the mansion the SAS are about to raid who claims to be six months pregnant. She turns out to be a guard wearing a belly pouch, a BulletproofVest and an automatic weapon under her coat.

[[folder: Literature]]
* Short story "Golden Girl" by Creator/EllisPeters. While a pregnant woman is taking a sea voyage, the ship is damaged and starts to sink. After the woman puts on a life jacket, one of the ship's officers drops her into the sea so she can be rescued by nearby boats. Much to his surprise, she sinks straight to the bottom. It turns out that she had been smuggling 30 pounds of gold bars in the padding under her maternity smock.

[[folder: Live Action TV]]
* On ''Series/{{Friends}}'', Monica has decided to shoplift a blue sweater as her "something blue" and "something borrowed." She shoves it up her blouse and has a quick maternal moment.
* Subverted in the ''Series/TheDrewCareyShow'' "What's Wrong With This Episode?", where Kate and Lewis both (supposedly) have a PillowPregnancy, but in reality Creator/ChristaMiller is actually pregnant, and is pulling a HideYourPregnancy.
** Done in an early season where Kate's PillowPregnancy was actually her way of smuggling beer into a professional wrestling event. Leading to a humorous case of a professional wrestler telling her she shouldn't drink when pregnant.

[[folder: Music Videos]]

[[folder: Theatre]]

[[folder: Webcomics]]

[[folder: Western Animation]]

[[folder: Real Life]]

* Pretending to be pregnant by stuffing a pillow in one's shirt is frequently seen in children's play for both girls and boys, especially if a child is expecting a younger sibling. This is a natural part of young minds trying to make sense of the world around them.

Sometimes two boys will do this to be [[TotemPoleTrench pregnant woman in a Trench coat]].

* One episode of ''Series/TheGoesWrongShow'' has Vanessa playing a pregnant woman, so she has a balloon stuck up her shirt. [[RunningGag It bursts every time she or someone else touches her belly]]. At one point it gets out and floats tethered alongside her as her character moves around the set--and it's also a bright blue that shows through her pajama shirt when she gets a chance to put it back.

** In the Literature/Landry Series novel ''Tarnished Gold'', Gabrielle Landry is raped by Octavius Tate, whose wife wants to fake a pregnancy in order to pretend the baby is hers. She insists on making it look as authentic as possible by periodically measuring Gabrielle to determine how many pillows to use.