An account from 1560 tells the story of Marguerite Walezer of Vienna, who had what she thought was a normal pregnancy in the year 1545. During her long labor, the fetus stopped moving and she knew the baby had died. But the labor pains stopped and the midwives couldn't make her deliver. Doctors couldn't help her, either. Surely her body would expel the stillbirth eventually, right? But that didn't happen, and Walezer suffered pains until November of 1550, when she convinced a surgeon to cut her open and relieve her of the fetus. At the time, alcohol and opium were the only surgical anesthetics, so it must have been a horrific experience. But after the surgery, Walezer was said to have been the picture of health.
Could this story possibly be true? The account is nestled in a book full of fantastic tales, but stands out because it comes with names and dates. Dr. Irvine Loudon published a paper in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine that explains the rare but plausible medical circumstances that may have led to Walezer's five year pregnancy, including the surgery that ended it. You can read a shorter recap at Weird Universe.
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