The accusation is shocking and horrific if true. Layane Santos, 19, says she was 38 weeks pregnant when she was rushed to the hospital in December. She passed out at some point during what she says was a C-section, and her baby daughter, whom she'd already named Sofia, was gone before she ever saw her -- stolen right from her womb.
But doctors at Santa Casea de Maua, the Brazilian hospital where the woman was treated, say that's not the case. According to The Sun, they say Santos was never actually pregnant. Instead they say she was suffering from a "phantom pregnancy" or "psychological pregnancy."
Santos vehemently disagrees. She says she received prenatal care throughout her pregnancy, and nurses measured her baby and heard her heartbeat. A doctor, Uesley Lima, says she was involved in Santos' prenatal care and will be a witness, which definitely adds more questions.
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Santos told The Sun, "I can’t believe that a child who weighed 7lbs could just disappear in blood. I think they stole the baby, or the baby died while she was being delivered and they didn’t want to tell us what happened."
It does sound bizarre, but phantom pregnancies do happen. According to Psychology Today, the condition known as pseudocyesis, occurs in 1 to 6 of every 22,000 pregnancies. Doctors say it often happens when a woman "obsesses over pregnancy out of desire or fear." They may have many of the symptoms of pregnancy; some even begin lactating.
It's such a strange story, and heartbreaking no matter which way it turns out. I suppose there's the possibility that she was pregnant and her baby was stolen. But if that's the case, it should be quite easy to prove via medical records, which the hospital says it can do though hasn't yet. My guess is that she was likely never really pregnant and it was as doctors say, really a psychological condition -- as hard as it may be for Santos to accept. Either way, however, I hope she gets the answers and help she needs.
What do you think of this story?
Image via handmaidenbymaria/Flickr
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Comments 96
it may be "heartbreaking" if the baby was stolen or died at birth but it is not "heartbreaking" if she made up the pregnancy. Quoting the article "It's such a strange story, and heartbreaking no matter which way it turns out." No, making up a pregnancy is not heartbreaking, its f*cked up, especially for someone who has had their baby stolen or died.
I remember reading a news story about how many babies were stolen from their mothers at birth and sold to adoptive parents, very lucrative for the people involved. I believed that story came out of Columbia, or some other South American country, but Brazil is only a stone's throw away. I hope the authorities get involved for this poor woman.
hmmmm very strange story..i hope there will updates to clear the air on this
well, there wouldn't have been "negative" tests necessarily, but the ultrasounds would have caught that everything else was off....... Psychological pregnancies are completely symptomatic of normal pregnancies-weight gain, hormones (which lead to false positives), lactation, breast engorgement, cravings, morning sickness, etc---just no baby on ultrasound..... They are very traumatic and seem very real.... BUT, if her OB does have all the documentation and ultrasound scans/pictures or prints then they should be able to win the case...... the scary part is was the baby sold, switched, dead, accidentally killed during/after that c-section, or maybe died shortly after?...... The family deserves the closure of knowing.
Zi Jones, a psychological pregnancy is not "made up" everything about it is real. Every symptom, every sign, even the pregnancy tests can be false positives. Women with these phantom pregnancies are being manipultated by hormonal and chemical imbalances which can even make them believe they feel movements and that the ultrasounds (often the only way to verify there is NO BABY) are simply wrong or taken at a bad angle, or the baby is "hiding"....... these can cause women to actually break down and go crazy from "postpartum depression"..... Especially if the doctor encouraged her to carry it to "term" and even more if the doctor "played along"......
So what she corrected spelling, you are calling her out. If it bothers you then why are you doing it?