In New York, a 50-year-old woman, originally from the Congo, was found to be carrying a lithopædion, a calcified fœtus, that was compressing her intestines and major blood vessels, preventing her absorbing nutrients. Lithopædia is an extremely rare condition, only ever recorded 290 times since 1582, and occurs after an ectopic pregnancy, in which the fœtus grows outside the womb. Such pregnancies are not viable, so the fœtus dies and, as it is not in the womb, cannot be
