Forever with mummy

Last time I was writing about corpses giving birth. I thought I will not come across anything more bizarre but here it is! Apparently, women's body can keep the fetus if unable to deliver! As if the child bearing itself was not scary enough, nature decided to be ECO and recycle.

"A stone baby is a fetus that has been calcified inside the mother’s body. It is rare, but can occur when the fetus is not expelled or reabsorbed after a natural termination. It is not dangerous." say first lines of the Science ABC article. The more scientific term would be Lithopedion. It says it is not dangerous but it is definitely the creepiest thing I came across in my whole life! This being a rare phenomenon does not make me feel less uncomfortable. It is a difficult topic as it is not clear what would one feel in this particular situation. Quite a lot of different emotions are occurring in my mind by only imagining this. Not to mention experience it. To think that nowadays so many men wants to become a women and has no idea what that actually means to be a woman. Gladly those who did became woman (in most cases at least) are wise enough to recognize the difference.

How does it happens you'd ask?

To this to occur, women needs to get pregnant and not deliver the baby. It usually happens due to pregnancy complications or lack of awareness of ones pregnancy.

"The mother's body permeates the fetus with the metallic mineral calcium, a major component of bones, in a process known as calcification. This safely quarantines the fetus from the mother's own body, and thus protects her from sepsis. (...) It's only been documented a few hundred times over the course of human history"

Moreover, the mother can give birth to other babies and be completely unaware that she has still fetal remains in her body! Imagine now, that you have that rare phenomenon occurred in your body. What would be your first thought? Be aware that those are often undetectable unless they specifically search for it!

What is it exactly that causes this?

The primary cause of lithopedion is an outside the uterus pregnancy, most commonly in a fallopian tube. In exceedingly rare cases, the fertilized egg can implant within the abdominal cavity. If the fetus dies and cannot be reabsorbed by the body, the immune response may trigger calcification to shield the body from potential infection.

Did it happen to a woman before? I think you know the answer to that question. Here are few examples:

1. Mummified 'stone baby' found in belly of old woman, 73, which she carried for 35 years (meaww.com/mummified-stone-baby-found-in-belly-of-old-woman-she-carried-decades)

2. Kantabai Thakre (60) from Nagpur, India in 1978 was warned that her pregnancy was ectopic and would not be successful, but she was afraid of surgery and returned home, where she took remedies to alleviate the pain only. The pains disappeared a few months later, but they returned after 37 years. Fearing cancer, Thakre sought hospital treatment, was diagnosed and had the fetus remains extracted.

3. In 2014 a woman with history of purulent discharge per vagina went to a hospital for a check up. Her symptoms were treated as purulent inflammation of cervix. Then, on radiography, it was found that the patient had a lithopedion fetus in her abdomen. She was asymptomatic through her reproductive life.

There are many more examples that can be found throughout history! This only proves how amazing woman's body is. It can do anything to protect itself.

Let me know what do you think in the comments! :)