Doctors at a hospital in Fayetteville, NC performed a very unnecesary C-section…as in, on someone who was not pregnant. Remind me again why the C-section rate is so high?

According to the Fayetteville Observer, two gynecologists were issued “public letters of concern” after not only trying to induce a woman who was not pregnant, but then following up with an attempted C-section. The incident happened at the aptly named Cape Fear Valley Medical Center.

Granted, the woman was suffering a sort of psychosis, called pseudocyesis, in which she believe she was pregnant, but she is not a trained medical professional. A resident took the woman’s word for it and the staff apparently acquiesced to her request for a C-section.

In her own defense, one of the practitioners (who will be allowed to continue practicing) said,

It wasn’t something I thought I’d have to check behind somebody on. The bottom line is the woman convinced everybody she was pregnant.

Uh, no lady. The bottom line is that you are a doctor. And this woman *could not have been in labor*. And if y’all are going to tell women how to give birth, could you please give us the courtesy of checking whether we’re pregnant first?

This freakish story comes as the United States has one of the highest C-section rates in the world, at about 32% of all babies born through the belly (though not as outrageous as China, where half the babies are C-section births). The World Health Organization recommends a C-section rate of no higher than 15%.

C-sections are the most commonly performed surgery in America, aside from circumcision.

Originally found the article on FayObserver.com thanks to the Feminist Breeder (via Facebook). You can also read about it through the Unnecesarean.

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Image by tifhermom on Flicker under a Creative Commons license.