Colombian woman hospitalised after using potato as contraceptive

Woman believed putting a potato in her vagina would prevent pregnancy – and then it germinated

potatoes
(Image credit: FRANCOIS NASCIMBENI/AFP/Getty)

Image removed.

Image removed.

The woman was complaining of abdominal pains when she sought medical help, the New York Daily News reports. She told doctors: "My mom told me that if I didn't want to get pregnant, I should put a potato up there, and I believed her."

The newspaper says the potato had been inside her body for around two weeks. The pain was caused by the tuber germinating inside her and beginning to grow roots.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

It has now been removed and doctors say there should be no lasting ill effects for the young woman.

Colombia has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in Latin America, the paper says. Each year, about 9 per cent of the country's teenagers become pregnant.

The Colombian Reports website observes that the young woman's ignorance shows "a concerning lack of education for young people" despite sexual education being obligatory in the country since the 1990s.

The site says Colombia is a "macho society" in which girls are "often pressured into having unsafe sex" and blames this for the high level of teen pregnancies.

Image removed.

Image removed.

Explore More