Natural Birth

C-section=missing baby?!

I hesitate to write this in case someone I know reads this, but I wanted to know what you ladies think.

I have an acquaintance, whose husband's co-worker's wife (got that?) was a week away from her due date. She went in for a sonogram and there was no heartbeat, so they took her in for an immediate c-section. When they did the section, there was no baby in there! But apparently, her previous sonogram had showed a baby.

So the question is...what happened?!

I know I am missing a LOT of info, as I'm getting this info fourth-hand (and undoubtedly, my acquaintance and her husband are as well.) The hospital she was at doesn't have the greatest rap, but I hesitate to say they misdiagnosed her as pregnant if earlier sonograms showed a baby in there. Apparently the lack of heartbeat at 39 weeks was the first clue they had to anything being wrong. Another acquaintance of ours suggested that she may have not had the Rh (?) shots she needed and her body reabsorbed the baby. Can that really happen at 39 weeks though?

Any thoughts?

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Re: C-section=missing baby?!

  • Not possible to reabsorb a 39 week baby.  If this occurred, I would think it was more likely that she had had the baby in the interim and disposed of the baby.  There is really no other logical explanation... You don't just deliver and not realize it that late in the pregnancy.
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  • drpaynedrpayne member
    imagesooner1981:
    Not possible to reabsorb a 39 week baby.nbsp; If this occurred, I would think it was more likely that she had had the baby in the interim and disposed of the baby.nbsp; There is really no other logical explanation... You don't just deliver and not realize it that late in the pregnancy.


    This. Very weird.
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  • Yeah...there's a LOT missing from that story, not the least of which being that, if they had performed a sonogram, they would have seen the baby (or lack thereof) right then, and there wouldn't have been a surprise during the section. And I can't imagine them rushing in for an emergency c-section with just having done a doppler, my doctor couldn't find LO's heartbeat at 20 weeks and the first thing he did was wheel in the ultrasound machine. If they performed a major surgery based on a simple dopper reading, that's MAJOR negligence on their part. 
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  • Yeah, as others said, either this story was greatly twisted in the retelling, or she disposed of the baby. I am inclined to think it was the first of those options, as I also would think that the hospital would do an ultrasound prior to jumping to major abdominal surgery, and/or the OBs would notice signs of a recent pregnancy during the csection.

    She could have had what is called a hysterical or phantom pregnancy, in which the body can develop as if really pregnant, but the anatomy scan would not have shown a baby. Nor would she have heard a fetal heartbeat on doppler at any point.

    You know, the more I think about it, the more I think that someone lied about being pregnant the whole time, possibly even to her husband, and then eventually got caught, as one would expect given the nature of this story, and this bizarre story is the best she could do to cover it up. And really, if this really happened, you woupdn't have to sit here speculating about where the baby went, as the OBs wouldn't have shrugged their shoulders and said, hmm, that's odd. Methinks she got an explanation somewhere in there that she didn't like, and/or never received medical attention at all because she knew she wasn't pregnant. There would have to be a LOT lost in the retelling for this to be based on a true story.
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  • KlikinaKlikina member

    They did do an ultrasound, from what I understand. There was no heartbeat so they did a section. I have no idea if there was no sign of a baby at all that day, or what. 

    Yeah, I wish I had more details. The impression I've gotten from my friend is that she really thought this lady was pregnant, so I have no idea how well she knows her. I totally don't know if she ever saw previous sonograms, or what. It's possible she doesn't know her and is only learning everything through her husband. It's also possible that her husband didn't hear this directly from his co-worker but from someone else at work too.

    I've definitely heard of phantom pregnancies. I'm less inclined to think she discarded it. This was going to be their 2nd or 3rd child so that theory, to me, seems less likely. If I find out anything else I'll let you all know. 

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  • If they did an ultrasound that day, they would have seen:
    A. a dead baby
    B. a live baby, who may or may not have been in some sort of distress requiring an urgent csection
    C. no baby, no csection required.

    If it was A or B, the baby would not have disappeared in the period between the ultrasound and the surgery, unless the hospital is really THAT bad and absconded with it somehow. Which is ridiculous, obviously.

    I still think, if an ultrasound immediately prior to the csection was part of the story, the whole thing is a lie. It seems too bizarre a story to have just been inadvertently tweaked a bit as it was retold.
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  • It IS possible to see a baby in an ultrasound very early on that's not really there.  I had that happen during an ultrasound when I was 15 (and a virgin, mind you). The tech spotted a "3-4 week fetus", or at least that's what he reported in his paperwork and why he kept looking at me funny during the u/s and asking if I wanted my mom to leave.  There was never a baby.  What he was seeing was a fibroid and he was just an idiot.

    But with a pregnancy you would get at least one pregnancy test to confirm and at least one other ultrasound.  Or if you refused the anatomy scan you'd at least hear the heartbeat at some point using a dopplar or scope.  I can't imagine a care giver not checking on the heartbeat at least once during a pregnancy.  Plus urine tests, blood draws... all of those things would have shown she wasn't pregnant looong before this.  So there had to be a baby and at 39 weeks you can't absorb the baby any longer.  And if they did a c-section they saw something.  So somewhere in there the story is really, really messed up!  It was probably a stillborn and maybe the person who told whoever it was who started this story that there was "no baby" meant no living baby.

     

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  • imageannabelle.27:
    You know, the more I think about it, the more I think that someone lied about being pregnant the whole time, possibly even to her husband, and then eventually got caught, as one would expect given the nature of this story, and this bizarre story is the best she could do to cover it up. And really, if this really happened, you woupdn't have to sit here speculating about where the baby went, as the OBs wouldn't have shrugged their shoulders and said, hmm, that's odd. Methinks she got an explanation somewhere in there that she didn't like, and/or never received medical attention at all because she knew she wasn't pregnant. There would have to be a LOT lost in the retelling for this to be based on a true story.

    I have to think this is the situation as well.  I cannot imagine that the hospital/OB is that terrible that they would just say I guess the baby "disappeared".

  • blush64blush64 member
    imagemadeline10L:

    imageHaley.Beth:
    Yeah...there's a LOT missing from that story, not the least of which being that, if they had performed a sonogram, they would have seen the baby (or lack thereof) right then, and there wouldn't have been a surprise during the section. And I can't imagine them rushing in for an emergency c-section with just having done a doppler, my doctor couldn't find LO's heartbeat at 20 weeks and the first thing he did was wheel in the ultrasound machine. If they performed a major surgery based on a simple dopper reading, that's MAJOR negligence on their part. 

    All of this. I call total BS...your friend is making up this story.

    I would also say this story is made up. I'm not sure who made it up but it sounds completely made up. 

    EDIT Why would they do a c-section if there was no heartbeat? If the mother wasn't in danger and there was no heartbeat there would be no need for emergency surgery. It's a strange thing to make up and I find the story disturbing. 

  • Definitely something missing from the story.  Maybe she gave it up for adoption or something?
  • KlikinaKlikina member
    I don't think my friend made it up, but I do think she is missing a ton of info. She sent it to our prayer chain and everyone else is all, do an investigation! And I'm like...why is no one questioning the mom's story?! I will be seeing her tomorrow so maybe I can find out if there are any more details. 
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  • imageJJ_13:


    yes, but even right there in that article it says hysterical pregnancy can be ruled out through ultrasound. This woman apparently had one, which prompted the urgent csection. Which again makes me think she is lying.
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  • JJ_13JJ_13 member

    imageannabelle.27:
    imageJJ_13:
    yes, but even right there in that article it says hysterical pregnancy can be ruled out through ultrasound. This woman apparently had one, which prompted the urgent csection. Which again makes me think she is lying.

    Good point... either way it's crazy.

  • kdv77kdv77 member
    Such an odd story. Did you ever get additional info? 
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