"Unlike today, this was really the only way a woman knew something was alive inside of her. "
Not at all. Cessation of the menses, enlargement of the breasts, morning sickness, and other signs have always been recognized by women as evidence of pregnancy.
Women have known they were pregnant before quickening throughout time.
Women might have known that they were pregnant but they did not know what this meant as far as fetal development and there being a living person inside of them. Miscarriages were common and an early stage fetus that was miscarried was not always recognizable as a "person". Quickening was the unmistakable sign that there was a living being inside of them, a being that was to be protected.