Woman gives birth to two babies in two days after finding out she has rare condition
A woman who has a rare condition, which means she has two uteruses, has given birth to two girls on two days.
Kelsey Hatcher, 32, from Alabama in the US, was just a teenager when she was told that she had a double uterus, known as uterus didelphys, due to a rare congenital anomaly that happens in around 0.3 percent of women.
She went on to marry husband Caleb and had three children with him, before falling pregnant again earlier this year.
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However, just weeks into her pregnancy, Kelsey began to experience some bleeding and decided to get it checked out by doctors.
Once in the hospital, she was given an ultrasound and found the baby was doing well, but she was in for quite a shock when the radiographer checked out Kelsey’s other uterus.
"As soon as she moved the wand to the other uterus, I gasped," Kelsey recalled.
"Sure enough, there was another baby. We just could not believe it."
Following her incredibly unusual pregnancy, Kelsey went into the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital (UAB) on 19 December for a planned induction for her daughters.
After a 20-hour labour, Kelsey gave birth to the girls ten-hours apart, with little Roxi delivered on December 19 at 7.45pm, weighing seven pounds, seven ounces and baby Rebel delivered on December 20 at 6.10am, weighing seven pounds, three-and-a-half ounces.
Speaking after giving birth, the delighted mum said: "Never in our wildest dreams could we have planned a pregnancy and birth like this; but bringing our two healthy baby girls into this world safely was always the goal, and UAB helped us accomplish that.
"It seems appropriate that they had two birthdays, though. They both had their own 'houses', and now both have their own unique birth stories."
Richard O. Davis, M.D., professor in the UAB Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine who co-managed Kelsey’s pregnancy, said: “In a typical twin pregnancy, the twins share one womb, which can limit the amount of space each has, making preterm or early birth a high possibility.
“With Kelsey’s babies, they each had their own womb, sac, placenta and umbilical cord, allowing them extra space to grow and develop.”
Kelsey's obstetrician Shweta Patel added: "It goes to show that the field of obstetrics is always changing and unpredictable, and you don't always have clear-cut answers.”
Welcome to the world, Roxi and Rebel!
Claire Reid