In 1955 in a small village just outside Casablanca, 26 year old Zahra
Aboutalib is pregnant with her first child. She was looking forward to
giving birth, but after 48 hours of painful labour, she was rushed to
the local hospital. Doctors informed her that she would need a caesarean
section. On the ward Zahra saw a woman in terrible pain die in
child-birth. She fled the hospital fearing she would meet the same fate
if she remained.
In the days that followed, Zahra continued to suffer excruciating labour
pains but the baby remained resolutely in her womb. After a few more
days the pains ceased and the baby stopped moving.
In Moroccan culture, it is believed that a baby can sleep inside the
mother to protect her honour. Zahra believed this myth and put the
pregnancy out of her mind. She adopted three children and in due course
they made her a grandmother.
Zahra Aboutalib, Many years later when Zahra was 75 years old, the pains
suddenly returned. Her son being concerned for his mother’s well-being
wanted her to see a specialist. For this they had to travel to Rabat
where they saw Professor Taibi Ouazzani. He suspected the protruding
belly was being caused by an ovarian tumour and arranged for her to have
an ultra-sound scan. This revealed a large mass that he could not
identify.
He referred Zahra to a specialist radiographer for a second opinion.
He could see it was a calcified structure of some sort, but it took a
detailed MRI scan to reveal that it was the baby Zahra had conceived 46
years earlier.
See Picture of the baby below: