A
new born baby with two heads delivered on Tuesday at a hospital in Ogudu on the
outskirts of Lagos.
It
has two heads with oxygen tube strapped on each, a neck, chest, two legs and
two hands.
Doctors
at Med-In Specialist Hospital, Osogbo Street, who took the delivery, said the
baby was born around 6:30pm on Tuesday through an elective
caesarean section. Its mother, surgeon and nurses entered the theatre
prepared to take delivery of a set of twins as indicated by the various scans
she underwent in the course of the pregnancy.
But
what they saw were two heads sharing a body.
At
the hospital yesterday, it was gathered that the baby was resuscitated
and transferred to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) for advance
care.
According
to one of the nurses who was in the delivery room, they had prepared two cots
for each of the twins but were shocked when they saw that they were conjoined.
“This
is the first time I am seeing anything like this. I have watched it in movies
but seeing it in real life was such an experience for me. Thankfully, the
surgeon ensured that they survived.
“As
I speak to you, the mother doesn’t know the condition of the babies. She still
believes and expects to carry her twins. We haven’t told her yet. Only her
husband was brought into the theatre to see his children and he was the one who
went with the doctors to LUTH,” said the nurse.
In
medical parlance, the condition is known as Parapagus. It is a rare form of
partial twinning where there are two heads and two necks side by side on one
torso.
Such
cases are rampant in India and doctors say they cannot be separated since they
have only one pair of arms and one pair of legs and one heart. This disorder is
different from conjoined twins as the baby has only one set of internal organs.
The extremely rare case is thought to be brought on during the early stages of
pregnancy as a result of genetic mutation.
Med-In
Hospital Manager Dare Moses said the baby was taken to LUTH so that tests can
be conducted to ascertain if they share also vital organs like hearts and
lungs.
He
said: “There is need to find out if they share major organs together. They may
have to be flown abroad for separation if they have separate hearts and other
vital organs. It is possible for them to survive. I have seen cases of twins
like this in movie surviving and living normal lives.
“Normally,
when we have cases of pregnant woman expecting twins, we usually go for
elective caesarean, which was what the mother opted for.
“But
when the doctor was trying to extract one of the babies (first one), it got
stuck and when he examined further, he discovered that there were two heads in
one body. We are happy that the baby was delivered alive and placed on oxygen.
Both heads were alive.
“It
was really amazing. I am proud and thankful that we delivered the baby alive.
Yes, several scans were done by the mother in the course of pregnancy at
different places, but none discovered any abnormality. We are thankful that the
operation was successful.”
According
to a doctor, who refused to be named, the babies were meant to come as
identical twins and must have shared the same sac and placenta.
She
said: “Nobody can specifically say the reason for the condition. At different
stages during pregnancies. Twins divide but these ones didn’t divide fully. We
can’t really say if they have only two pairs of legs and hands, there’s a
possibility the other pairs are inside. But we don’t know yet.
“There
are so many things we can’t really determine physically. That’s why several
scans would be conducted, including CT Scans, to know their exact condition and
the best option.
“It
is a situation that would be best managed abroad because it requires the
putting together of a team of paediatric surgeons who must have the best
facilities, which we do not have presently on Nigeria.
“We
have good doctors but the materials are not there. Specialists in different
fields would be working on them at the same time if they are to be separated.
Chances of their survival in Nigeria are very poor giving the realities of our
society.
“If
they can’t be separated and are left to survive, people might ridicule them or
see them as curses, which isn’t good. But in other climes, some conjoined twins
have survived to adulthood and they are doing fine.
“You
should also know that it would be very expensive to foot the bills, and it
isn’t what any parent can handle alone. The government and good spirited
individuals would have to assist them so that the kids stay alive. All we want
is to give them as much chances as they can possibly get to survive.
“Our
medical system in Nigeria is in poor shape. Even at the teaching hospitals,
chances are that they may not even have those necessary equipment to support
survival of children like this. There is need for a multi-specialist team,
drawn from various teaching hospitals, to handle cases like this and they
should be provided the right equipment.”
The
Ministry of Health has been notified of the development. The hospital plans to
inform the baby’s mother.
Source:The Nation
Tags
Society