The mother of a beauty pageant contestant in Florida is suspected of forcing her daughter to ingest tapeworms -- in order to lose weight for competition.

At first, when the teen competitor in question show up to her local hospital emergency room with severe stomach pains, nurse Maricar Cabral-Osorio suspected the young woman was pregnant, according to a report by United Press International.

An ultrasound found no indication of a fetus, but did detect some mysterious growths in the youth's intestines.

The nature of the contestant's dilemma was revealed after an urgent trip to the ER bathroom.

Recalled Cabral-Osorio in the UPI story: "It was a toilet bowl full of tapeworms ... It was so gross and she had pooped all these tapeworms. There were a couple that were very long and wiggling around trying to get out of the toilet bowl."

After eliminating the parasites from her body, the teen was expected to successfully recover.

But, how did the aspiring beauty queen manage to contract the gut worms? Her mother apparently.

It's believed by investigators a reported disagreement between mother and daughter led the mother to venture to Mexico, where she bought a pill of tapeworm eggs -- a method used by some to shed extra pounds -- and managed to get her daughter to take it before an upcoming pageant.

"We were wondering how did she get those tapeworms, and then you saw the mom turn white," Cabral-Osorio said. "The mom was apologizing to the girl. It's like 'I'm so sorry. You know, I did it just to make you a little skinnier. You needed some help before we went on to the pageant.'"

It's not yet known if the mother will face any criminal charges in connection with the incident.

Tapeworms, explains a post at medicinenet.com, "are parasitic, segmented ribbon-like worms that obtain nutrients from the digestive system of their host. They can infect many different hosts, including humans, fish, dogs, cows, pigs, and sheep."

Typically, the site continues, when humans are infected, tapeworms are "acquired by eating raw or undercooked meat from infected animals, although humans can also become infected from contaminated water or from eating food prepared and contaminated by infected individuals ... once acquired, the parasite attaches to the intestinal wall of its host and absorbs nutrients as it continues to grow and produce eggs, which can be ... shed in the feces. Certain tapeworms can grow up to 15-30 feet in length and live up to 20 years in the host."

Oftentimes, those infected with tapeworms show no overt symptoms, although sufferers "may experience abdominal pain, nausea, bloating, diarrhea, weakness, loss of appetite, weight loss, vitamin deficiencies, and malnutrition. Sometimes the affected individual may notice a segment of the tapeworm in their feces. More serious complications can also occur in some individuals," according to the Website.