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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithopedion
"Stone Baby." When a woman has an abnormal pregnancy in which the fetus terminates, but is neither expelled as a miscarriage nor is reabsorbed, and it gets covered in a calcified coating that prevents the mother from getting an infection or other negative effects. Indeed, there are many cases where, although the woman knows that there is SOMETHING wrong, she goes on to have further healthy children, even though she has this calcified fetus in her uterus for the rest of her life. The resultant lithopedion may be anything from a tiny blob, to a nearly-fully-formed fetus.
There are about three hundred documented cases since the 16th century, although the condition was described in a 10th century medical text (the author had never seen a case, but had heard of it), and, given that most of them really didn't have any serious effects, there probably have been many more that the mothers never were aware of. Even so, it is quite rare, on the order of, say, about one in a million.
But definitely should have shown up in a Vertigo comic.
"Stone Baby." When a woman has an abnormal pregnancy in which the fetus terminates, but is neither expelled as a miscarriage nor is reabsorbed, and it gets covered in a calcified coating that prevents the mother from getting an infection or other negative effects. Indeed, there are many cases where, although the woman knows that there is SOMETHING wrong, she goes on to have further healthy children, even though she has this calcified fetus in her uterus for the rest of her life. The resultant lithopedion may be anything from a tiny blob, to a nearly-fully-formed fetus.
There are about three hundred documented cases since the 16th century, although the condition was described in a 10th century medical text (the author had never seen a case, but had heard of it), and, given that most of them really didn't have any serious effects, there probably have been many more that the mothers never were aware of. Even so, it is quite rare, on the order of, say, about one in a million.
But definitely should have shown up in a Vertigo comic.