The Indian mother who gave birth to
conjoined twins last week has yet to meet her babies - because she is
still coming to terms with what has happened.
The
twins, who were born last week with one body and two heads, have been
moved to one of India’s top hospitals for further examination.
Dr Shikha Malik, who delivered the
babies and is helping the family, said they have two heads, two
necks, two spines and two separate oesophaguses and trachea - but they
have only one heart and stomach and one lung each.
+7
The twins, born last week, each have a head, neck, spine and oesophagus.
But they share a heart and stomach and have only one lung each
+7
The twins were born last week in northern India via C-section, weighing 7lbs 7oz
She
added that most of their vital organs are shared. And while one baby is
sleeping, one is crying - and the one on the right hand side of the body is so far growing much stronger.
The twins are now being treated at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences Hospital, in Delhi.
But
the parents, Urmila and Subhash Sharma, are still recovering at Cygnus
JK Hindu Hospital in Sonipat, northern India, and are slowly coming to
terms with the birth of such remarkable babies.
Dr Malik said: ‘So far they are doing remarkably well. It is a gift that they have come this far.
'We
can only pray that there is a future for them. We are trying all we can
to help them and we’re speaking to experts from all over the world to
see if there’s any chance of surgery. But it is looking unlikely at the
moment.’
The babies’ father, Subhash, 32, who
works as a labourer in a bicycle factory, said he is pinning all his
hopes on the doctors but his priority is the health of his wife.
+7
The twins' parents, Urmila and Subhash Sharma,
are still coming to terms with the birth of such remarkable babies. It
has been reported the mother has yet to see the twins
+7
Doctors say that most of the babies' vital
organs are shared. And while one baby is sleeping, one is crying. The
baby on the right side of the body is also growing faster
‘When my wife started to feel
pain in her stomach we rushed to see a doctor. When we came to know
about them there were no words, there was no way out, we were very
shocked. It was all in god’s hands,’ he said.
‘I’m their father so I’ll do whatever I can for them. Whatever I’m earning will go towards my children.'
Just
as I’ve cared for my daughter I will care for these babies too but the
future will depend on the doctors. I’m a poor man and I will do my best
for my family. Right now I am also worried about my wife. I can only
hope the doctors will be able to help us.’
Urmila,
28, has only seen a photo of her conjoined babies and is yet to meet
them. Her husband and three-year-old daughter Shalini are with her
throughout the day as she regains her strength.
Dr Malik said: ‘She is feeling mentally drained and doesn’t feel strong enough to see her babies yet.
'Her husband will tell us when she’s ready. We can only imagine what she must be feeling, it’s a very sad case.’
Dr Malik said last week: ‘The parents are very distressed and we are helping the family the best we can.'
The babies, who together weighed 7lb 7oz when they were born, will remain at AIIMS and be closely monitored.
+7
Dr Malik said: 'So far they are doing remarkably well. It is a gift that they have come this far'
Dr Minu Bajpai, paediatric surgeon in
charge of the babies while at AIIMS, said: ‘We’re in the process of
working out their anatomy and the extent of their fusion.
'Their
respiratory elements are infected right now so we’re trying to treat
that and we need them to stablise before we can move forward.
‘We
will be doing further tests next week. This is a very rare case, it’s
very complex but we’re hoping further testing will tell us more of the
right way forward.’
Urmila
and Subhash, who have one other daughter, were too poor to have an
ultrasound during the pregnancy so complications had gone unnoticed.
+7
Fears: The baby's mother gave birth to conjoined
twins in Haryana, northern India, last week and doctors initially
feared their chances of survival were slim
Dr Malik added: ‘We only came to know
she was carrying conjoined twins after an ultrasound two weeks ago but
it was too late to do anything by then.
Conjoined twins who share a single body have dicephalic parapagus - an extremely unusual form of conjoinment.
Because they share the same body, it is not possible to separate dicephalic parapagus twins.
SIAMESE TWINS BORN IN CHINA HAVE 'GOOD CHANCE OF BEING SEPARATED'
Chinese doctors say Siamese
twins born this month in Yunyang County in the country's Chongqing
Province have a good chance of eventually being separated, if they
survive the first few weeks after being born.
The twins were delivered at a rural hospital weighing in at 4.3 kg and were immediately put on a life support machine.
The Siamese twins were delivered at a rural hospital in China weighing 4.3kg and were immediately put on a life support machine
Doctors
at the local hospital, who said they had never had to deal with Siamese
twins before, arranged for the two babies to be sent to the larger
Xinqiao Hospital, where they remained in intensive care largely as a
precaution.
Doctors say that at the moment all the indications are
that despite the fact the twin babies are small and comparatively weak,
their vital signs are essentially steady, and there is a good chance
they will survive.
The pair are connected from the chest to the
stomach. But doctors believe they do not share vital organs, raising
hope it might be possible to separate them when they are older
The pair are connected from the chest to the
stomach, but doctors believe they do not share vital organs and
therefore it might eventually be possible to separate them when they are
older.
Doctor Prof. Zhang Yuping who is in charge of looking after
the conjoined twins said: 'At the moment, the twins' vital signs are
steady, if anything they are breathing a little fast and they seem to
have a low blood oxygen level but other than that everything is stable.'
He
said that the priority at the moment was to focus on sorting out their
breathing difficulties and making sure that they ate enough in order to
stabilise their vital signs. A full investigation will then be carried
out to see whether separation operation will eventually be feasible.
dailymail.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment