Mother With Two Wombs Has Twins, Defying One In Five Million Chance

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Main Category: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 20 Sep 2011 - 2:00 PDT


A mother has given birth to two babies, delivered from two separate uteruses, at Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater, Florida in the US. Fraternal twins, Nathan and Natalie Barbosa, born on 15 September, are doing well, and delighting their parents Andreea Barbosa, 24, of Clearwater, and husband, Miguel Barbosa, who also have a two-year-old daughter.

Andreea Barbosa has uterus didelphys, or double uterus, a rare condition where the double uterus has two separate cervices, and often a double vagina as well.

It is thought to affect about 1 in 2,000 women worldwide, and there have only been 100 known cases of women with the condition being pregnant in both uteruses at the same time. The most recent known case before the Barbosa's was of a woman in India who gave birth in July.

The condition can cause infertility, miscarriage and premature birth. But Barbosa's twins were delivered by cesarean section at 36 weeks: Nathan was delivered first, weighing in at 5 lbs 8 oz (2.50 kg), then his sister Natalie, at 5 lbs 10 oz (2.55 kg), was born two minutes later.

Their mother told the press she was "shocked" when she found out she was pregnant in each uterus.

"But my husband and I are just so happy that they are here and healthy," she said.

Barbosa's doctor said her patient was aware of the risks of such a pregnancy. Patricia St. John, MD, OB/GYN at Morton Plant Hospital, said they were "thrilled" to be guiding the family through this "unique" pregnancy and delivery.

"Because we were aware of her condition, we were able to take special precautions to ensure that both mother and babies would be healthy," she added.

Uterus didelphys will have developed in Barbosa when she herself was a fetus in her mother's womb. There are two tubes that normally fuse together to form the uterus in the female fetus, but when this joining fails, they develop into two separate cavities.

The symptoms usually manifest as unusual pain before or during a period, and abnormal bleeding during a period. The condition is sometimes never diagnosed, and women can go through pregnancy and childbirth without knowing they have two wombs.

In 2006, an even rarer event occured in the UK when a mother with a double uterus had triplets: two babies from one uterus and another from the second uterus. Hannah Kersey, 23, from Northam in Devon, gave birth to identical twins Ruby and Tilly, and their fraternal twin sister, Grace. The odds of that happening are thought to be about 25 million to one.

Written by Catharine Paddock PhD
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

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