New York woman, 50, dies from severe malnutrition after unborn fetus compressed ... trends now
A mother died from severe malnutrition after carrying an unborn fetus for around nine years inside her body.
The woman, originally from the Congo, visited doctors in New York complaining of stomach cramps, indigestion and a gurgling sound after eating.
Scans revealed the 50-year-old had a 'stone baby' — a calcified fetus — compressed her intestines which was attributed to a miscarriage nine years prior.
The rare phenomenon, which has only been recorded fewer than 300 times, occurs when a fetus that is developing outside the womb dies during pregnancy and is not released from the body.
The patient refused treatment, saying she believed her health condition was related to a 'spell' that someone cast on her in Africa.
The woman, who has not been named, had carried the fetus for nine years. After she was resettled to the US, the mother was offered surgery but refused. She eventually died from malnutrition caused by the fetus blocking her small intestine
Shown above is a scan of the calcified fetus inside the mother. She died 14 months after coming to the US due to severe malnutrition
The woman died 14 months after arriving in the United States.
Doctors said she died from severe malnutrition, or starvation.
In these cases, death may evenutally be caused by tissue degredation leading to cardiac arrest or cardiac arrhythmia, an irregular heartbeat. Other causes include an infection, brought on by a weakened immune system.
For this woman, the 'stone baby' kept compressing the intestines. This caused blockages, meaning her body was no longer able to absorb vital nutrients — leading to starvation.
Dr Waseem Sous, an internal medicine expert at SUNY Upstate Medical University who reported the case, said the patient 'declined intervention due to fear of surgery and elected for symptom monitoring.'
'Unfortunately, she passed away due to severe malnutrition in the context of recurrent bowel obstruction due to the lithopedion and continued fear of seeking medical care.'
The fetus — which would have been the woman's ninth child — stopped developing inside her at 28 weeks.
But instead of miscarrying, she suffered the condition known as lithopedion.
This is where the dead fetus becomes calcified after it is attacked by the immune system. At this point, it was too large to be reabsorbed by the body.
The condition has only been recorded 290 times, with the first dating back to France in 1582.
Some mothers report severe symptoms as a result, but others can live for decades without suffering any signs of the condition.
The sad tale was revealed in a medical report in the journal BMC Women's Health this week.
The mother's early life had seen her uprooted twice, moving from Congo to Burundi and then Tanzania because of conflicts.
In Tanzania, she settled down and had eight children which were delivered naturally, although three died shortly after childbirth.
During her ninth pregnancy, she visited a doctor's clinic at a refugee camp after noticing that her baby was no longer moving.
Medics there told her the baby had no heartbeat and recommended that she try to pass it naturally at home and, if this did not work,
