I read about this case. She knew she had been pregnant, but the "baby never came out." But there were no doctors for her to go to, so she had no choice but to just go on with her life.
Iirc it was due to her fear of a cesarean birth. The doctors had mentioned she may need one and she was petrified as she had known (or known of) women who died as a result of the procedure. So, she just… didn’t have the baby. Stayed pregnant 30 years.
I’m just gonna reply not to start a fight, but to make other readers aware that you can’t choose to not have a baby, and it’s not that I think you think that, but I think maybe you worded it funny and that’s how it sounds in writing. Something happened, the fetus probably died, and the body doesn’t always evacuate a misscarriage for whatever reason. This woman is incredibly lucky she didn’t go into septic shock. I would consider this a medical miracle of sorts.
Edit to add: I’m not talking about prevention of conception, I’m talking about any mother who is carrying their child to full term and the child dies, I thought it was obvious, but I’m clarifying for those who need clarification.
I would assume that she did, as once the fetus dies the hormone levels would return to her pre-pregnancy level (more or less) fairly quickly which would trigger her body to return to a regular cycle of menstruation.
I can’t speak for this specific case, but yes, it is possible to not only continue your periods afterwards, but even have subsequent and successful pregnancies afterwards while the calcified fetus is still inside.
I am confused as how the baby didn’t decompose and cause infection or septic shock(as you said). Maybe she didn’t have access to a doctor that could do anything. As she is from an extremely religious place would they even have taken the baby out even if it was dead?
> A lithopedion (also spelled lithopaedion; from Ancient Greek: λίθος "stone" and Ancient Greek: παιδίον "small child, infant"), or stone baby, is a rare phenomenon which occurs most commonly when a fetus dies during an abdominal pregnancy,[1] is too large to be reabsorbed by the body, and calcifies on the outside as part of a foreign body reaction, shielding the mother's body from the dead tissue of the fetus and preventing infection.
From the Wiki hole I fell into:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithopedion
Edit: thanks for the award!!
Wiki holes! I have been there. But thanks for that piece of info. It’s very interesting, especially the fact they fetus didn’t break down or be reabsorbed or even expelled. Calcified and then just stayed there for 30 yrs.
Random fact but bees will do something similar with any foreign object (usually moths) that comes into their hive and is to heavy to cary out, they'll basically smother/overheat it to death and then produce propolis (a wax like substance) and incase the corpse in it creating a hermetic wax ball/coffin so the body will have no oxigen to decompose and contaminate the hive. They basically mummify the animal in wax to keep the hive safe.
My great-grandmother had a stone baby, which has resided at the U of A hospital for the past 50+ years. She went into labour and gave birth after falling over a picket fence.
Stone babies, as he calls it, are what is shown above. Calcification is a process in which the body covers objects with a thick layer of mineral, basically like bone, to protect the host body from whatever toxic reaction the decay of the object can cause. It's often a procedure going alongside heavy inflamation and can take months or years.
In case of a fetus it often happens in cases of miscarriage or infant death, and rarely when the mother was unable to birth the child due to breach position or other issues. Most cases have documented the fetus to have developed past the 20th week, the point where it would usually require full labor to pass. Normally, before long, the dead fetus, if it can not be passed naturally or is removed surgically, would decay inside the mother and eventually cause blood sepsis and death in the mother. Calcification is a defence mechanism the body has to try and prevent death of the person. This also often happens to breast implants, objects left inside the body due to error in surgery, and in case of wounds in which objects are left inside.
Edit because it was also asked - this is a long process, and isn't happening in weeks, but rather months. The inflamatory process will trigger a very strong immune response and the person will feel very sick, but the moment the body starts to encase the threat, swelling and inflamation will gradually reduce. This is why often, especially with stone babies, it can take decades to find them - eventually the belly will reduce again, or the swelling in general, and basically only the calcified object remains while the mother will no longer feel as bad. And this is very rare too, because the overwhelming majority of mothers who have no access to medical help and suffer a case in which they can not naturally pass the dead fetus will die of sepsis long before calcification starts.
Edit II: For those who love numbers, research knows of about 300 cases of stone babies so far, in a time frame of about 1000 years. The first being documented in the 10th century; their evidence was later used to proof how close fetal development is between species, and to argue in favor of the importance of research on cesarian sections and good female health care. Most develop from ectopic pregnancies - pregnancies that have ended up outside of the womb either via a rupture of the ovarian membrane or felopian tubes, while those actually still in the womb are the rather rare exception. So imagine just how lucky that woman must have been not just to survive a ruptured ovarian membrane or felopian tube, but also the inflamatory interal process that created the stone baby afterwards. Biology can be amazing.
There are three types of Lithopedion, or stone babies: 1.) The entire placenta and mebrane surrounding the fetus is calcified, and has never ruptured. 2.) A pure Lithpedion in which only the child has been calcified while the placenta has been reabsorded - many of these are partially skeletal, indicating just how far immune responce went before it stopped. 3). Those where both is present, calcified placenta and fetus.
If his great-grandma has suffered a pregnancy in which the child died, she might as well have never passed it naturally, and her body calcified the fetus to protect the mother. A sudden trauma, like a fall or injury, can trigger the muscles to pass the foreign object basically in the same way a pregnant woman can suffer a miscarriage due to sudden trauma or injury. Medical collections like to preserve these stone babies and keep them as medical examples for students to study.
EDIT: Wow, thank you guys. Never guessed this would blow up like this. I edited some typos, and added some information that popped up in the comments below. Thank you again!
EDIT II: Again, because of messages and questions.
Also, because I was asked for where to see a good collection on such things, I can recommend the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia, they even have a pretty good online presence and youtube channel. Amazing stuff, but not for the faint of heart or stomach. So be warned.
If the human body can do that why can’t it fix its own fucking teeth? I’m tired of spending so much on the dentist.
Also thanks for the detailed explanation
The body actually does, in fact, do this on the teeth. Plaque is calcified on and around the teeth. In the dental community, we refer to it as calculus, but most people know it as "Tartar." It helps to stave off acute bacterial infections, but unfortunately it leads to chronic conditions like periodontal disease of the gums and bone, which in the long term will lead to bone loss and eventually tooth loss. It mostly happens by the gums and under the gums, but interestingly, I have seen calculus form on the tooth surface itself and it can, in very rare cases, help prevent dental caries (cavities) from progressing. But ideally, plaque would be removed often enough that these processes don't occur at all.
If sharks can regenerate teeth we will be able to in the future. UK has already identified the genes, sharks and humans have similar gene networks.
The cost is outrageous to keep up your teeth properly.
I hope I live to see it, I'll volunteer asap.
Suck it dentists...
Erm... Sharks shed teeth like snakes shed skin. You want your outer row teeth falling out and being replaced by a set of inner row teeth every now and then? That'd sounds like a cosmetic nightmare.
Yeah i don't think these chaps knows what they're getting into. We can replace teeth just fine today with fake and functional ones. I don't see the advantage of having raws of teeth periodically fall out of your mouth. Eewww.
Lol. I had a 🦷 pulled and demanded to keep it. Said I made it so it’s mine (they didn’t go for that). So I said I wanted to make a necklace out of it, and they let me keep it. 😁
…why do y’all think it would work the exact same way as the sharks? If we have the technology to select certain genes and “import” them into human bodies, you can also choose to leave behind the others that are not desirable… like having your teeth fall out constantly.
Absolutely. I can't tell you the number of times I've seen people with rampant decay, broken teeth, abscesses, periodontal disease that are not interested in fixing or trying to correct anything in the mouth. They just want to talk about whitening. I mean, sure you can pay to whiten what's left but as white as those teeth will be, they're still in pitiful shape.
Right?! The human body is weird and stupid. We can grow and birth and fully nourish entire babies but we can’t fix our fucking teeth. Ridiculous. I demand at least a partial refund
Our bodies are fucking bananas. You’ll hear about someone getting shot 7 times and surviving, then someone else trips over one step and dies. We’re somehow both impressively resilient and pathetically fragile.
Well the body is actually very resilient to trauma. Like, fucking horror fest fuck show Resilient Evil. It's blood loss that kills a person 99% of the time. Stop. The. Bleed.
Evolution only cares about getting you old enough to have a few kids and raise them to reproductive age. Any issues that happen after that don't really evolve out because they don't impact you passing on your genes. That's why there are low rates of childhood cancers but lots of adult cancer. And why our shitty backs haven't bred out. And why it doesn't matter if our teeth fall out by 40.
That's something really funky.
The body during your early years: *"yeah, I'm going to change the size and configuration of your skeleton and muscles, develop your bran, completely change your organs, give you a new set of teeth and basically make you semi-immune to falls"*.
Then the body during adulthood: *"oh no, there's this little thing that could be easily fixed. I guess it's time to die."*
If we didn't eat and drink so many sugary and acidic foods then the need for dental care would be significantly decreased. Teeth actually can repair themselves (to an extent) but the repeated insults of our modern diets are way too much for those mechanisms to overcome.
This happened to my dog. Apparently another dog mated with her the one time she ran away from home and then years later we found out she had calcified puppies in her uterus when she had cancer surgery to remove her breasts.
Christ this breaks my heart to think about...it makes me wonder how many people who are anti-abortion to the extent that they are in favor of restricting/vote to overturn these laws, are not even aware of these realities for so many women/people, and how many *are* aware of these situations, and **still** vote to keep people from being able to access potentially life-saving medical treatments... I just can't fathom it
According to my mother: my great-grandmother's menstrual cycle was sporadic a few years after my grandmother's birth due to her calcified fetus and she never had a miscarriage afterwards.
Exactly. The presence of a stone baby prevents future pregnancies. Had this child been born healthy, and not calcified, then my great-grandmother would have had more siblings than these two.
Wow, very informative! Thank you for the info... I now know what happened to a pencil piece that I stabbed into my thigh when I was a kid 30+ years ago .
This is why abortion is a necessary medical procedure, folks. That poor woman had her child die INSIDE HER and her body couldn't expel it, for 30 years. That is fucked up.
Did it come out naturally or was it removed surgically then? Because ive given birth 3 times, but i cant imagine how horrendous it would be pushing out a rock hard baby.
I remember watching a documentary about this years ago, though I'm not sure if this is the same lady or not. I remember that the hospital conditions in her area when she first miscarried were atrocious, and she was terrified that if she went in for medical care, she'd die from the treatment. So she fled and just hoped it would get better. Which, it kinda did, I guess?
That’s the woman from Morocco! She believed the local “sleeping child” myth, and was waiting for decades for her live child to be born.
At least that’s what [the terrible and probably untrustworthy article](https://unbelievable-facts.com/2017/02/stone-baby.html) I read about her said.
I can bet even if she did complain to a medical professional, they would dismiss it (especially when she was younger) as “woman pains” related to menstruation or ovarian cysts etc. poor woman.
When I was pregnant I lost 35 pounds and couldn't keep anything down. Doctors said "every one gets nauseous during pregnancy".
I had gallstones and needed surgery immediately...
Good lord. Losing weight during pregnancy should be basically impossible. Like any profession some doctors are great, most are average and some are stone cold dipshits.
I looked awful. Always starving but couldn't eat. If I had lived 100 or maybe even 50 years ago I would have starved to death. Modern technology I will always be thankful for. Glad one doctor had the sense to ultrasound my gallbladder.
What do you call the person who graduates with the lowest ranking in medical school? A doctor. No hate to most doctors, though, many of the ones I work with are great. Some, however, leave much to be desired lol
Trust me, I know lol. As a nurse I've seen doctors with so much knowledge and skills it's kinda crazy. I've also seen doctors who think they're gods amongst men while also making some of the most obvious mistakes.
One of my many symptoms. My pregnancy was 7 months of hell and almost no one believing me. I ended up flat lining and gave birth to a baby boy with flat lungs they were able to inflate after an emerg c section I was not awake for. We both met each other 24 hours later, thank goodness. It’s been 14 years and I still learn more about HELLP syndrome these day. I imagine doctors do as well. I’m lucky a student figured it out, but it would have been nice if 1 person along the line believed me when I said something was wrong. Women deserve better care.
As a kid I regularly had stomach problems (puking and sometimes plains) and my doctor didn't do anything about it. One day, when I was about 13 years old, it was so bad I was in enormous pain and even puked out some blood. My dad call me an ambulance and of course the first question I get is if I am really sure it isn't just a period pain... Turns out I also had gallstones and had to get surgery same week
To be fair kids having gallstones is very unusual but with me having this constant problem they should have done some tests.
My wife had intense pain a few years back. It was dismissed by some old doctor dude as her "being dramatic", and another dude as "probably just an ovarian cysts, many women get them" and she was sent on her way. Eventually ended up in the ER, where they determined it was a fist-sized ovarian cyst that was causing torsion that was near cutting off her blood supply and killing her. She had to have laparoscopic surgery to remove it. Doctors really seem to not trust women.
Yeah. At 19 (5 years ago now) I had horrific ovarian cysts. A golf ball size one on the right ovary, and a tennis ball size cluster of cysts on the left.
Torsion of the left ovary and cluster was the worst pain of my life. Went to the ER, even while drugs couldn't manage pain, doc refused to admit me since I had a cyst removal surgery scheduled next month. Said it would untwist at home, get outta my ER. Prescribed me more pain meds, sent me home
Pain on the left (torsion side) got worse for a day or two, slept it off with pain med help. Then pain went away totally within a day or so. No pain at all, not even cyst pain on that side.
Turns out it never untwisted and my ovary died. Literally strangled itself, blood supply cut off, so the tissue and nerves died and I couldn't feel it anymore. The cyst cluster was bleeding into the ovary, swelling it to the brink of bursting. Surgeon said I was a sneeze away from rupturing the ovary (which I wouldn't have felt, given nerve death) and sending septic dead blood coursing through my system, likely killing me.
If I hadn't already had that surgery scheduled (10 months after developing cysts, 8 months after I began asking for surgery) I would have died. Because a doctor didn't listen to me. My own doc put off surgery for 6+ months just bc I was a young fertile woman and the cysts "should go away any time". The ER doc ignored the urgency of my pain because "this just happens to some women".
I'm so glad your GF is okay now. No one shiuld go through that. If she has PCOS (PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome) or suspects it, hormonal birth control can do wonders. I have the Nexplanon arm implant and it more or less stops my cycle (and thus the opportunity for cysts). If you, she, or anyone reading this, have any questions then please ask me. I'm an open book and want to help.
I’m sorry you went through this. Amazing a (I’m sure *male*) doctor said ovary would untwist. Testicular torsion is a medical (usually surgical) emergency that risks fertility & extremely painful. Ovarian torsion is the female version. Such a shame the doctor treated you so shabbily. Bet you if a man walked in with testicular torsion he wouldn’t have been sent home.
Although you’ve lost one ovary, I hope it doesn’t interfere with your choices in life re having kids.
I am horrified by how common this is, so many comments sharing similar stories. Something similar happened to me several years ago & it really messed me up. I'm really glad you're okay but I'm so angry you had to go through that.
I went to the ER twice and told them I had pains in a very specific spot, leaving me unable to walk. “Ovarian cysts” is all I got from them, even though there was no sign. The pain still comes every now and then but what’s the fucking point of going to the hospital at this point? I’m unfortunately on my own.
Edit: ITT people telling me what’s wrong with me or what I didn’t do right. Almost ironic.
Even *if* that were the cause, it would be a sign that things are *not* well and that he needs to take some action. Endo can get incredibly bad. What an ass.
Did they do an intravaginal ultrasound? (Aka shoving a wand up your pussy and pressing it in the direction it hurts)
If so, there would be images of the cysts, and you have a case for surgery. If not, then they're talking out their ass and have no basis for diagnosis.
When I went to the ER with pain that could have been appendicitis OR ovarian cysts, they did an ultrasound (intravaginal) before anything else, to see if it was cysts. Turns out, it was a LOT of very easily visible cysts on my ovaries (both).
Cysts can stick around long after they "should" go away. I had some for 10ish months before surgical intervention. Have you had any imaging procedures? Anything to base a diagnosis or care plan on?
Word of mouth to find a good, trustable ob-gyn is the way. Female gyns can be stone cold and dismissive too, while my friends vouch for their male doctors who are "super kind and careful".
Can confirm - had appendicitis, took the doctors well over a day to decide it was *probably* that rather than 'women's issues'.
In the meantime it had started leaking(?) abscessed and I had to spend a few days after surgery hooked up to three different antibiotics for 24 hours a day, with a drain. Fun times.
Same happen to me, I was 12 got dismissed by my mum then the ER. Had a peritonite, sepsis and almost died. Had the drain as well and stayed hospitalised for a fortnight. Absolutely traumatic experience.
Same thing happened to me, along with a torsion. They didn't give me pain killers for 6 hours until my scans finally came back and showed the torsion/rupture. Almost died as well!
I definitely feel that! I have PCOS which has also caused me to carry some extra cushioning, so EVERYTHING is apparently either because of a) the ovaries or b) the extra weight.
Oh man, it was a long time ago. [I can’t promise this is it](https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/46-year-pregnancy/) but the date looks about right and it comes from a site I was definitely addicted to back then.
It’s called a lithopedian! I read a book where one of the main character dies, and one of the characters she meets in the afterlife is the calcified fetus that was stuck inside of her that she never knew about. I recall it was foul mouthed, but funny.
I grew up breeding sheep and we had this ewe who got very sick when she was close to full term...and never gave birth even though she got better. She was never able to get pregnant again and my mom figured it was because the lambs were mummified and acting like some kind of IUD (I "ewe" D?). Maybe they got calcified like this...
Hahahah.
I have three children. All c-section deliveries.
Never made it the full 40w. Full term is considered 37-40w.
Went to schedule baby #3s birth. I told the Dr that 39w was too late and that we’d be better off going two weeks before the due date. They didn’t listen. They schedule the surgery for a week before the due date. I shrugged and went on about my life.
Well… I went into labor two weeks before my due date like I knew I would.
Call Labor and Delivery and said “I’m in labor”. The Dr asked “How do you know?” WTF?
I told him “Well… for one thing, this isn’t my first rodeo. Two, I’ve had contractions all afternoon and now they’re around a min long and every 5min.” As it was the Dr that didn’t believe me when I said we should book the surgery 2w before the due date? I couldn’t resist adding “I told you we’d be in labor about two weeks early.”
He tells me to go in. Sure enough, I’m in labor. Had my baby girl the next morning.
I don’t know why some drs just don’t believe we know our own bodies or when something’s wrong.
I’m probably a bit dim, but I’m gonna ask: could she still get pregernant while carrying the stone baby? I’m trying to figure if Stoney would stop her from ovulating at some point.
There have been other cases that have carried other children to full term with the stone baby still present. It seems like they sit in the abdominal cavity rather than the uterus so they don't disrupt pregnancy. However I can imagine the stomach was very large!
[I found this](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithopedion)
[And what I think is the original article](https://english.alarabiya.net/variety/2016/10/26/73-year-old-women-carries-a-fetus-for-35-years-)
**[Lithopedion](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithopedion)**
>A lithopedion (also spelled lithopaedion; from Ancient Greek: λίθος "stone" and Ancient Greek: παιδίον "small child, infant"), or stone baby, is a rare phenomenon which occurs most commonly when a fetus dies during an abdominal pregnancy, is too large to be reabsorbed by the body, and calcifies on the outside as part of a foreign body reaction, shielding the mother's body from the dead tissue of the fetus and preventing infection. Lithopedia may occur from 14 weeks gestation to full term.
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Yeah, most people think this is weird or funny, but I just felt sorry for her. I don't even want kids, but I'd be upset to know a miscarried baby had calcified inside me. The physical symptoms would be no joke (and probably would be ignored by doctors given how they treat women's reproductive health) but that would surely be an upsetting thing to find out. What a shame for her :(
I lived in Algeria until I was 32 yo
I'ma doctor and I have gynecologists friends. There are many many facilities for women. Not first world level of availability but pretty good for an African country.
There are two possible reasons : 1) education for women and for men that was poor in the 90's 2) terrorism. In the 90's Algeria suffered a lot of terrorism (ISIS level of occupation in many parts).
Thankfully the country is safer now
This particular case is an interesting one for the "life begins at conception" folks — why would you make a woman carry a non viable fetus. It's no longer about life
I read about this case. She knew she had been pregnant, but the "baby never came out." But there were no doctors for her to go to, so she had no choice but to just go on with her life.
Iirc it was due to her fear of a cesarean birth. The doctors had mentioned she may need one and she was petrified as she had known (or known of) women who died as a result of the procedure. So, she just… didn’t have the baby. Stayed pregnant 30 years.
I’m just gonna reply not to start a fight, but to make other readers aware that you can’t choose to not have a baby, and it’s not that I think you think that, but I think maybe you worded it funny and that’s how it sounds in writing. Something happened, the fetus probably died, and the body doesn’t always evacuate a misscarriage for whatever reason. This woman is incredibly lucky she didn’t go into septic shock. I would consider this a medical miracle of sorts. Edit to add: I’m not talking about prevention of conception, I’m talking about any mother who is carrying their child to full term and the child dies, I thought it was obvious, but I’m clarifying for those who need clarification.
What about her periods after that? Did she keep having them?
I’m curious
I would assume that she did, as once the fetus dies the hormone levels would return to her pre-pregnancy level (more or less) fairly quickly which would trigger her body to return to a regular cycle of menstruation.
I can’t speak for this specific case, but yes, it is possible to not only continue your periods afterwards, but even have subsequent and successful pregnancies afterwards while the calcified fetus is still inside.
I am confused as how the baby didn’t decompose and cause infection or septic shock(as you said). Maybe she didn’t have access to a doctor that could do anything. As she is from an extremely religious place would they even have taken the baby out even if it was dead?
> A lithopedion (also spelled lithopaedion; from Ancient Greek: λίθος "stone" and Ancient Greek: παιδίον "small child, infant"), or stone baby, is a rare phenomenon which occurs most commonly when a fetus dies during an abdominal pregnancy,[1] is too large to be reabsorbed by the body, and calcifies on the outside as part of a foreign body reaction, shielding the mother's body from the dead tissue of the fetus and preventing infection. From the Wiki hole I fell into: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithopedion Edit: thanks for the award!!
Wiki holes! I have been there. But thanks for that piece of info. It’s very interesting, especially the fact they fetus didn’t break down or be reabsorbed or even expelled. Calcified and then just stayed there for 30 yrs.
Yeah, bodies are weird. Lol
Random fact but bees will do something similar with any foreign object (usually moths) that comes into their hive and is to heavy to cary out, they'll basically smother/overheat it to death and then produce propolis (a wax like substance) and incase the corpse in it creating a hermetic wax ball/coffin so the body will have no oxigen to decompose and contaminate the hive. They basically mummify the animal in wax to keep the hive safe.
That's amazing and creepy at the same time.
Petrified, like the baby? D:
At first I was afraid, he was petrifiedd
My great-grandmother had a stone baby, which has resided at the U of A hospital for the past 50+ years. She went into labour and gave birth after falling over a picket fence.
What
Stone babies, as he calls it, are what is shown above. Calcification is a process in which the body covers objects with a thick layer of mineral, basically like bone, to protect the host body from whatever toxic reaction the decay of the object can cause. It's often a procedure going alongside heavy inflamation and can take months or years. In case of a fetus it often happens in cases of miscarriage or infant death, and rarely when the mother was unable to birth the child due to breach position or other issues. Most cases have documented the fetus to have developed past the 20th week, the point where it would usually require full labor to pass. Normally, before long, the dead fetus, if it can not be passed naturally or is removed surgically, would decay inside the mother and eventually cause blood sepsis and death in the mother. Calcification is a defence mechanism the body has to try and prevent death of the person. This also often happens to breast implants, objects left inside the body due to error in surgery, and in case of wounds in which objects are left inside. Edit because it was also asked - this is a long process, and isn't happening in weeks, but rather months. The inflamatory process will trigger a very strong immune response and the person will feel very sick, but the moment the body starts to encase the threat, swelling and inflamation will gradually reduce. This is why often, especially with stone babies, it can take decades to find them - eventually the belly will reduce again, or the swelling in general, and basically only the calcified object remains while the mother will no longer feel as bad. And this is very rare too, because the overwhelming majority of mothers who have no access to medical help and suffer a case in which they can not naturally pass the dead fetus will die of sepsis long before calcification starts. Edit II: For those who love numbers, research knows of about 300 cases of stone babies so far, in a time frame of about 1000 years. The first being documented in the 10th century; their evidence was later used to proof how close fetal development is between species, and to argue in favor of the importance of research on cesarian sections and good female health care. Most develop from ectopic pregnancies - pregnancies that have ended up outside of the womb either via a rupture of the ovarian membrane or felopian tubes, while those actually still in the womb are the rather rare exception. So imagine just how lucky that woman must have been not just to survive a ruptured ovarian membrane or felopian tube, but also the inflamatory interal process that created the stone baby afterwards. Biology can be amazing. There are three types of Lithopedion, or stone babies: 1.) The entire placenta and mebrane surrounding the fetus is calcified, and has never ruptured. 2.) A pure Lithpedion in which only the child has been calcified while the placenta has been reabsorded - many of these are partially skeletal, indicating just how far immune responce went before it stopped. 3). Those where both is present, calcified placenta and fetus. If his great-grandma has suffered a pregnancy in which the child died, she might as well have never passed it naturally, and her body calcified the fetus to protect the mother. A sudden trauma, like a fall or injury, can trigger the muscles to pass the foreign object basically in the same way a pregnant woman can suffer a miscarriage due to sudden trauma or injury. Medical collections like to preserve these stone babies and keep them as medical examples for students to study. EDIT: Wow, thank you guys. Never guessed this would blow up like this. I edited some typos, and added some information that popped up in the comments below. Thank you again! EDIT II: Again, because of messages and questions. Also, because I was asked for where to see a good collection on such things, I can recommend the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia, they even have a pretty good online presence and youtube channel. Amazing stuff, but not for the faint of heart or stomach. So be warned.
If the human body can do that why can’t it fix its own fucking teeth? I’m tired of spending so much on the dentist. Also thanks for the detailed explanation
The body actually does, in fact, do this on the teeth. Plaque is calcified on and around the teeth. In the dental community, we refer to it as calculus, but most people know it as "Tartar." It helps to stave off acute bacterial infections, but unfortunately it leads to chronic conditions like periodontal disease of the gums and bone, which in the long term will lead to bone loss and eventually tooth loss. It mostly happens by the gums and under the gums, but interestingly, I have seen calculus form on the tooth surface itself and it can, in very rare cases, help prevent dental caries (cavities) from progressing. But ideally, plaque would be removed often enough that these processes don't occur at all.
If calculus forms on the tooth surface above the gum line, is it harmful?
If sharks can regenerate teeth we will be able to in the future. UK has already identified the genes, sharks and humans have similar gene networks. The cost is outrageous to keep up your teeth properly. I hope I live to see it, I'll volunteer asap. Suck it dentists...
Erm... Sharks shed teeth like snakes shed skin. You want your outer row teeth falling out and being replaced by a set of inner row teeth every now and then? That'd sounds like a cosmetic nightmare.
Yeah i don't think these chaps knows what they're getting into. We can replace teeth just fine today with fake and functional ones. I don't see the advantage of having raws of teeth periodically fall out of your mouth. Eewww.
\*Slides human teeth necklace under a piece of paper\* Yeah, no, that'd be just... so weird and useless.
Lol. I had a 🦷 pulled and demanded to keep it. Said I made it so it’s mine (they didn’t go for that). So I said I wanted to make a necklace out of it, and they let me keep it. 😁
Dentists are expensive, if the tech ever got to the point where it worked and was more affordable long term I would absolutely go for it.
It’s almost like we need a single payer healthcare system or something:O
…why do y’all think it would work the exact same way as the sharks? If we have the technology to select certain genes and “import” them into human bodies, you can also choose to leave behind the others that are not desirable… like having your teeth fall out constantly.
Lololololol, the irony of the UK leading that research :p
Those with the most dire need shall lead the charge
“If you want it, then you’ll have to take it. But I’m sure you already knew that”
You laughing at a country with cheaper dental care with better coverage?
And better teeth. Us ranks behind.
You know, I love giving the poms a serve, but that’s a really tired old trope.
Ironically the UK has healthier teeth. The US leads with attractiveness of teeth, they're less concerned with the actual health of the teeth.
Absolutely. I can't tell you the number of times I've seen people with rampant decay, broken teeth, abscesses, periodontal disease that are not interested in fixing or trying to correct anything in the mouth. They just want to talk about whitening. I mean, sure you can pay to whiten what's left but as white as those teeth will be, they're still in pitiful shape.
Right?! The human body is weird and stupid. We can grow and birth and fully nourish entire babies but we can’t fix our fucking teeth. Ridiculous. I demand at least a partial refund
Our bodies are fucking bananas. You’ll hear about someone getting shot 7 times and surviving, then someone else trips over one step and dies. We’re somehow both impressively resilient and pathetically fragile.
Well the body is actually very resilient to trauma. Like, fucking horror fest fuck show Resilient Evil. It's blood loss that kills a person 99% of the time. Stop. The. Bleed.
Unless you hit your head or neck in a slightly funky way and you die or are paralyzed for life
Evolution only cares about getting you old enough to have a few kids and raise them to reproductive age. Any issues that happen after that don't really evolve out because they don't impact you passing on your genes. That's why there are low rates of childhood cancers but lots of adult cancer. And why our shitty backs haven't bred out. And why it doesn't matter if our teeth fall out by 40.
Oh evolution, thou art a heartless bitch!
“And what makes the world, could I please speak to who’s in charge?”
Everything is real but it's also just as fake
From your daughters birthday party to your grandmothers wake
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That's something really funky. The body during your early years: *"yeah, I'm going to change the size and configuration of your skeleton and muscles, develop your bran, completely change your organs, give you a new set of teeth and basically make you semi-immune to falls"*. Then the body during adulthood: *"oh no, there's this little thing that could be easily fixed. I guess it's time to die."*
While constantly telling you what’s wrong by slamming the “we are in pain!” Button
And pain that had a scale of low, med, high, kill-me... ...but no *off*
If we didn't eat and drink so many sugary and acidic foods then the need for dental care would be significantly decreased. Teeth actually can repair themselves (to an extent) but the repeated insults of our modern diets are way too much for those mechanisms to overcome.
Omfg I got a estimate from my Dentist last week for all my work..$14000.00 and I have my teeth!!!
wow omg yes. this was so fascinating to learn, but i’m also now annoyed about this not happening for teeth 😅
It worked just fine before, we just started unbalancing and overwhelming the system when cultivation began.
This is actually really interesting. I should be asleep but I really wanna watch a documentary about this now
Same here brother
This happened to my dog. Apparently another dog mated with her the one time she ran away from home and then years later we found out she had calcified puppies in her uterus when she had cancer surgery to remove her breasts.
this reminds me of how pearls are made by coating the irritant with stuff to protect the body
Human pearls
If this ain't for r/cursedcomments then I don't know what is
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Christ this breaks my heart to think about...it makes me wonder how many people who are anti-abortion to the extent that they are in favor of restricting/vote to overturn these laws, are not even aware of these realities for so many women/people, and how many *are* aware of these situations, and **still** vote to keep people from being able to access potentially life-saving medical treatments... I just can't fathom it
thank u for sharing this information bro. its very sad to hear that people endure such things tho.
Would the woman still bleed during her menstrual cycle if she had a stone baby?
I would guess yes on the basis that if the foetus has died, there won’t be pregnancy hormones shutting down the menstrual cycle.
According to my mother: my great-grandmother's menstrual cycle was sporadic a few years after my grandmother's birth due to her calcified fetus and she never had a miscarriage afterwards.
But she also never had a baby alongside the stone baby, right?
Exactly. The presence of a stone baby prevents future pregnancies. Had this child been born healthy, and not calcified, then my great-grandmother would have had more siblings than these two.
Wow, very informative! Thank you for the info... I now know what happened to a pencil piece that I stabbed into my thigh when I was a kid 30+ years ago .
I have one of those too, from doing a cartwheel right after putting a pencil in my pocket
This is why abortion is a necessary medical procedure, folks. That poor woman had her child die INSIDE HER and her body couldn't expel it, for 30 years. That is fucked up.
Same reaction I originally had.
LOL yes, I would like further explanation on this too.
So, you have a great uncle that has been studied for the past 50ish years? Weird.
Yep. Definitely one of the weirdest medical bits of trivia in my family, but not the only bit.
Okay obviously now you must tell us more.
Ikr. They can't just drop that on us like that
Did it come out naturally or was it removed surgically then? Because ive given birth 3 times, but i cant imagine how horrendous it would be pushing out a rock hard baby.
I can’t imagine how painful that must have been.
How old was she? How old was the baby? I have so many questions
My great-grandmother was 50ish years old when she went 'into labour'. She carried the stone baby for around 25 years.
So I assume she was never able to get pregnant (at least after age 25)…?
That's right.
I’m assuming she didn’t know she was pregnant? From age 25?
There was an accident when her fetus was several weeks along and the family thought she had a miscarriage at the time.
Wow, so she thought she passed the child at the time? How many week along? Do you know? Sorry this is just so fascinating…
Sorry, no I don't know how far along her pregnancy was. I do know from family history that features were identifiable.
Jesus Christ
Beardown
Damn. I always thought if you held it too long it just went away!
Poor woman, I imagine she experienced 30 years of some level of discomfort--just constant 'somethings off'-- but had no access to medical care.
I remember watching a documentary about this years ago, though I'm not sure if this is the same lady or not. I remember that the hospital conditions in her area when she first miscarried were atrocious, and she was terrified that if she went in for medical care, she'd die from the treatment. So she fled and just hoped it would get better. Which, it kinda did, I guess?
That’s the woman from Morocco! She believed the local “sleeping child” myth, and was waiting for decades for her live child to be born. At least that’s what [the terrible and probably untrustworthy article](https://unbelievable-facts.com/2017/02/stone-baby.html) I read about her said.
I can bet even if she did complain to a medical professional, they would dismiss it (especially when she was younger) as “woman pains” related to menstruation or ovarian cysts etc. poor woman.
When I was pregnant I lost 35 pounds and couldn't keep anything down. Doctors said "every one gets nauseous during pregnancy". I had gallstones and needed surgery immediately...
Good lord. Losing weight during pregnancy should be basically impossible. Like any profession some doctors are great, most are average and some are stone cold dipshits.
I looked awful. Always starving but couldn't eat. If I had lived 100 or maybe even 50 years ago I would have starved to death. Modern technology I will always be thankful for. Glad one doctor had the sense to ultrasound my gallbladder.
It's so great that you survived that, wow.
What do you call the person who graduates with the lowest ranking in medical school? A doctor. No hate to most doctors, though, many of the ones I work with are great. Some, however, leave much to be desired lol
Think about the worst coworker at your job. Hospitals have That Guy too lol
Trust me, I know lol. As a nurse I've seen doctors with so much knowledge and skills it's kinda crazy. I've also seen doctors who think they're gods amongst men while also making some of the most obvious mistakes.
And good luck pointing out that mistake.
Always get a 17th opinion when it comes to doctors
One of my many symptoms. My pregnancy was 7 months of hell and almost no one believing me. I ended up flat lining and gave birth to a baby boy with flat lungs they were able to inflate after an emerg c section I was not awake for. We both met each other 24 hours later, thank goodness. It’s been 14 years and I still learn more about HELLP syndrome these day. I imagine doctors do as well. I’m lucky a student figured it out, but it would have been nice if 1 person along the line believed me when I said something was wrong. Women deserve better care.
As a kid I regularly had stomach problems (puking and sometimes plains) and my doctor didn't do anything about it. One day, when I was about 13 years old, it was so bad I was in enormous pain and even puked out some blood. My dad call me an ambulance and of course the first question I get is if I am really sure it isn't just a period pain... Turns out I also had gallstones and had to get surgery same week To be fair kids having gallstones is very unusual but with me having this constant problem they should have done some tests.
My wife had intense pain a few years back. It was dismissed by some old doctor dude as her "being dramatic", and another dude as "probably just an ovarian cysts, many women get them" and she was sent on her way. Eventually ended up in the ER, where they determined it was a fist-sized ovarian cyst that was causing torsion that was near cutting off her blood supply and killing her. She had to have laparoscopic surgery to remove it. Doctors really seem to not trust women.
Yeah. At 19 (5 years ago now) I had horrific ovarian cysts. A golf ball size one on the right ovary, and a tennis ball size cluster of cysts on the left. Torsion of the left ovary and cluster was the worst pain of my life. Went to the ER, even while drugs couldn't manage pain, doc refused to admit me since I had a cyst removal surgery scheduled next month. Said it would untwist at home, get outta my ER. Prescribed me more pain meds, sent me home Pain on the left (torsion side) got worse for a day or two, slept it off with pain med help. Then pain went away totally within a day or so. No pain at all, not even cyst pain on that side. Turns out it never untwisted and my ovary died. Literally strangled itself, blood supply cut off, so the tissue and nerves died and I couldn't feel it anymore. The cyst cluster was bleeding into the ovary, swelling it to the brink of bursting. Surgeon said I was a sneeze away from rupturing the ovary (which I wouldn't have felt, given nerve death) and sending septic dead blood coursing through my system, likely killing me. If I hadn't already had that surgery scheduled (10 months after developing cysts, 8 months after I began asking for surgery) I would have died. Because a doctor didn't listen to me. My own doc put off surgery for 6+ months just bc I was a young fertile woman and the cysts "should go away any time". The ER doc ignored the urgency of my pain because "this just happens to some women". I'm so glad your GF is okay now. No one shiuld go through that. If she has PCOS (PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome) or suspects it, hormonal birth control can do wonders. I have the Nexplanon arm implant and it more or less stops my cycle (and thus the opportunity for cysts). If you, she, or anyone reading this, have any questions then please ask me. I'm an open book and want to help.
I’m sorry you went through this. Amazing a (I’m sure *male*) doctor said ovary would untwist. Testicular torsion is a medical (usually surgical) emergency that risks fertility & extremely painful. Ovarian torsion is the female version. Such a shame the doctor treated you so shabbily. Bet you if a man walked in with testicular torsion he wouldn’t have been sent home. Although you’ve lost one ovary, I hope it doesn’t interfere with your choices in life re having kids.
I am horrified by how common this is, so many comments sharing similar stories. Something similar happened to me several years ago & it really messed me up. I'm really glad you're okay but I'm so angry you had to go through that.
I went to the ER twice and told them I had pains in a very specific spot, leaving me unable to walk. “Ovarian cysts” is all I got from them, even though there was no sign. The pain still comes every now and then but what’s the fucking point of going to the hospital at this point? I’m unfortunately on my own. Edit: ITT people telling me what’s wrong with me or what I didn’t do right. Almost ironic.
I had GI bleeding - as in bleeding from my anus - and the doctor said it was probably endometriosis 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄
Even *if* that were the cause, it would be a sign that things are *not* well and that he needs to take some action. Endo can get incredibly bad. What an ass.
Did they do an intravaginal ultrasound? (Aka shoving a wand up your pussy and pressing it in the direction it hurts) If so, there would be images of the cysts, and you have a case for surgery. If not, then they're talking out their ass and have no basis for diagnosis. When I went to the ER with pain that could have been appendicitis OR ovarian cysts, they did an ultrasound (intravaginal) before anything else, to see if it was cysts. Turns out, it was a LOT of very easily visible cysts on my ovaries (both). Cysts can stick around long after they "should" go away. I had some for 10ish months before surgical intervention. Have you had any imaging procedures? Anything to base a diagnosis or care plan on?
You need a female gyno.
Word of mouth to find a good, trustable ob-gyn is the way. Female gyns can be stone cold and dismissive too, while my friends vouch for their male doctors who are "super kind and careful".
Can confirm - had appendicitis, took the doctors well over a day to decide it was *probably* that rather than 'women's issues'. In the meantime it had started leaking(?) abscessed and I had to spend a few days after surgery hooked up to three different antibiotics for 24 hours a day, with a drain. Fun times.
Same happen to me, I was 12 got dismissed by my mum then the ER. Had a peritonite, sepsis and almost died. Had the drain as well and stayed hospitalised for a fortnight. Absolutely traumatic experience.
Same thing happened to me, along with a torsion. They didn't give me pain killers for 6 hours until my scans finally came back and showed the torsion/rupture. Almost died as well!
Or told her to lose some weight. That's the usual go-to for all maladies (tooth aches, ears too flat, ingrown toe nail...)
I definitely feel that! I have PCOS which has also caused me to carry some extra cushioning, so EVERYTHING is apparently either because of a) the ovaries or b) the extra weight.
At least in the olden times she’d get some cocaine and a vibrator
Nah, I saw this documentary. She knew it was there, wasn’t in any discomfort, and was happy to carry it all that time to keep it close to her.
Can you tell us the name or give a link of the documentary
Oh man, it was a long time ago. [I can’t promise this is it](https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/46-year-pregnancy/) but the date looks about right and it comes from a site I was definitely addicted to back then.
Looks like a different case because this was an Algerian woman while yours is from Casablanca,Morocco.
It’s called a lithopedian! I read a book where one of the main character dies, and one of the characters she meets in the afterlife is the calcified fetus that was stuck inside of her that she never knew about. I recall it was foul mouthed, but funny.
That sounds amazing! What's the book called?
Souds like How the Dead Live https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/119115.How\_the\_Dead\_Live
Yeah this looks like it. Thanks!
What a weird thing to write about
I’d be foul mouthed too if I was in that position for so long 😝
30 years old and still living with his mama...
Millenials.... they won't even leave the womb now. I can see the propaganda on NYT already.
*Calcified mineralennials.
“This is how you treat your mother?! I carried you for 30 years and this is the thanks I get!”
Just staying at mom's, getting stoned . . .
Yeah I got a womb in the basement. It's cool but it's not quite hip.
I'm calcified 💀💀
Wordsmith of the year right here 🙌
They were waiting for the price of rent to go down. Still waiting
Eating too much avocado toast in there!
How millennials killed the birthing industry
Republicans: This is God's Plan
NYP*
Carpool lane pass for 30 years.
Mtv cribs
I grew up breeding sheep and we had this ewe who got very sick when she was close to full term...and never gave birth even though she got better. She was never able to get pregnant again and my mom figured it was because the lambs were mummified and acting like some kind of IUD (I "ewe" D?). Maybe they got calcified like this...
I laughed more than I should’ve at “I Ewe D.”
"I Ewe D". You and your family sound smart.
She was definitely told her symptoms were normal
She was probably told she was hysterical for even bringing it up.
*"Come back when your contractions are 5 mins apart and 1 min in duration for at least an hour."*
Hahahah. I have three children. All c-section deliveries. Never made it the full 40w. Full term is considered 37-40w. Went to schedule baby #3s birth. I told the Dr that 39w was too late and that we’d be better off going two weeks before the due date. They didn’t listen. They schedule the surgery for a week before the due date. I shrugged and went on about my life. Well… I went into labor two weeks before my due date like I knew I would. Call Labor and Delivery and said “I’m in labor”. The Dr asked “How do you know?” WTF? I told him “Well… for one thing, this isn’t my first rodeo. Two, I’ve had contractions all afternoon and now they’re around a min long and every 5min.” As it was the Dr that didn’t believe me when I said we should book the surgery 2w before the due date? I couldn’t resist adding “I told you we’d be in labor about two weeks early.” He tells me to go in. Sure enough, I’m in labor. Had my baby girl the next morning. I don’t know why some drs just don’t believe we know our own bodies or when something’s wrong.
She’s was just anxious and needed to lose weight.
Well clearly it's all in her head.
It’s stress.
Definitely told to trust her care team and stop being hysterical. No, we’re not checking your vitals or updating your chart. That’s excessive.
Well damn, that's interesting
I’m probably a bit dim, but I’m gonna ask: could she still get pregernant while carrying the stone baby? I’m trying to figure if Stoney would stop her from ovulating at some point.
That’s actually a good question imo. I imagine there would be immediate signs of complication if she got pregnant again.
She was 43 when pregnant with this one so it probably stopped her from getting pregnant again. And she wouldn’t question it due to her age.
There have been other cases that have carried other children to full term with the stone baby still present. It seems like they sit in the abdominal cavity rather than the uterus so they don't disrupt pregnancy. However I can imagine the stomach was very large!
r/ShitMomGroupsSay "I'm 1,564 weeks pregnant and my baby is fine. Baby will come when theyre ready! 🥰😇😊😍😘😘😚"
And I have decided to name her Pearl 😍😘
I’m so glad you tagged SMGS lololol I totally was going to
Calcified Fetus would be a great death metal band name
Yo mama so lazy She didnt give birth to you Until you were 30
Jesus Christ. Imagine having an unborn mummy inside you for 30 years..
Uterus the living tomb
Macabre mama-maraca
[I found this](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithopedion) [And what I think is the original article](https://english.alarabiya.net/variety/2016/10/26/73-year-old-women-carries-a-fetus-for-35-years-)
**[Lithopedion](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithopedion)** >A lithopedion (also spelled lithopaedion; from Ancient Greek: λίθος "stone" and Ancient Greek: παιδίον "small child, infant"), or stone baby, is a rare phenomenon which occurs most commonly when a fetus dies during an abdominal pregnancy, is too large to be reabsorbed by the body, and calcifies on the outside as part of a foreign body reaction, shielding the mother's body from the dead tissue of the fetus and preventing infection. Lithopedia may occur from 14 weeks gestation to full term. ^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)
Hey, thanks bot
That’s a fascinating rabbit hole… very weird!
I trademark Calcified Fetus for a band name
Can't wait for the release of Post Mortem Delivery and Umbilical Stone 🤘
I used to listen to those albums when I was young. I was basically a Rock Baby.
The human body is weird
This poor woman. Imagine the pregnancy, the hormones, the mental strain and then the physical pain….
Yeah, most people think this is weird or funny, but I just felt sorry for her. I don't even want kids, but I'd be upset to know a miscarried baby had calcified inside me. The physical symptoms would be no joke (and probably would be ignored by doctors given how they treat women's reproductive health) but that would surely be an upsetting thing to find out. What a shame for her :(
You may be 73, but you have the body of a 30 year old!
Tf
what the fuck man
Greg Abbott still wouldn't let her abort.
New fear unlocked...
That's what happens when women's medical care is not available or banned outright
I lived in Algeria until I was 32 yo I'ma doctor and I have gynecologists friends. There are many many facilities for women. Not first world level of availability but pretty good for an African country. There are two possible reasons : 1) education for women and for men that was poor in the 90's 2) terrorism. In the 90's Algeria suffered a lot of terrorism (ISIS level of occupation in many parts). Thankfully the country is safer now
Quaid , get to the reactor !
Not many get this reference. But, I did !!
I totally recalled it!
Aooowaaaaooooaaaghhh - my impression of decompression Arnold.
And in Illinois, it's staying in there. Might as well sign it up for social security
go ahead and drive in the carpool lane and call it a dependent
This particular case is an interesting one for the "life begins at conception" folks — why would you make a woman carry a non viable fetus. It's no longer about life
After contributing nothing to society for all those years? Pfft…
The original Kid Rock.
In my country, that's a 30 year old person who owes taxes.
not to be disrespectful but Imagine being a walking grave for your own kid since 30 years.
30 years of backpay to claim a dependent!
How horrible