By Shemuel Fanfair
Doctors at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC) are receiving praise for having pulled off a rare and intricate feat following the successful delivery of two healthy babies from a mother who carried the twins in separate uteri.
What made the 20-year-old mother’s story particularly special was that her type of pregnancy was so rare that statistics suggested its odds are one in a million. The delivery and discovery was made via Cesarean Section (C-Section) on August 25 and her twins – a boy and a girl, were born with normal weight. The boy’s weight was five pounds, eight ounces, while the girl weighed 5 pounds, six ounces.
At a press conference at the GPHC on Thursday, doctors announced that both mother and children were happy and healthy and were discharged from hospital. Consultant in charge of the case, Dr Lucio Pedro said the mother’s rare condition falls under Mullerian duct anomalies (MDAs) which cause “abnormal embryological development of the Mullerian ducts”. The 20-year-old mother’s MDA is called Didelphys Uterus which means she has two uteri. She delivered full term at 37 weeks, one day and it was likened to winning the mega lottery, given its chances.
Reporters were eager to get into the mind of the doctor who delivered the twins from the separate uteruses, especially considering that the ultrasound did not pick up what was transpiring inside of the mother’s body.
“When I actually went in and I delivered the male baby, there was no way to get into the other side; you had to make another incision in order to go over into the other side for the baby girl,” Dr Rafi Rozan stated on Thursday.
The Obstetrician and Gynecologist (OBGYN) expressed that he was indeed anxious when he made the discovery, noting that the condition is so rare that he will probably never see another of the same case in Guyana, given that our population is under a million.
“During post-graduate studies, you read so many things but you don’t actually get to see them, so this was a first for me, I’ve seen a case on TV that’s why I know that the statistics of that say it’s one in a million but these are very rare and you would often get them one time, if not at all, in your medical career,” stated the doctor who also functions as a Senior Registrar at GPHC.
He added that the case was just one of many extraordinary achievements that doctors would normally carry out.
“I’m always excited about things. I love a challenge but this is not a challenge compared to the normal things we go over every day. We have a lot of things happening with good outcomes. You may hear about some of the bad things that happen, but every day, OBGYNs save lives,” Dr Rozan affirmed.
Given the risk of such pregnancies, the mother has implanted two intrauterine devices (IUD) to prevent additional pregnancies. Dr Lucio Pedro, the consultant, explained that such pregnancies are associated with increased chances for spontaneous abortion, premature labour and cesarean delivery as against normal pregnancies.
