LONDON - A British mother could get into the record books after she gave
birth to twins and a single baby at the same time -- from two wombs -- in what
is believed to be a world first.
The hand of a newborn baby. A British
mother could get into the record books after she gave birth to twins and a
single baby at the same time -- from two wombs -- in what is believed to
be a world first. [AFP]
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Hannah Kersey, 23, gave birth to the rare triplets -- identical twins Ruby
and Tilly, and singleton Gracie -- by Caesarean section seven weeks prematurely
in September.
She was born with a condition called uterus didelphys, which means she
developed two wombs, but doctors had warned her that she was unlikely to become
pregnant in both.
After their early birth the triplets had to stay in hospital for nine weeks,
but are now doing fine at home with Hanna and her partner Mick Faulkner, 23, in
Devon in southwest England.
"We are just over the moon at how healthy and happy the girls are," she said.
"They are three lovely and incredible children, all with very different
personalities.
"Gracie seems to be the ringleader -- maybe because she grew up in her own
womb. She is very determined and independent, always wanting her food before the
others and to do things first," she said.
Doctors say there are only 70 women in the world known to have become
pregnant in two wombs, and this is the first reported case of triplets.
"This is so rare you cannot put odds on it," said Ellis Downes, consultant
obstetrician at Chase Farm Hospital in London. "I have never heard of this
happening anywhere ever before - it is quite amazing.
"Women with two wombs have conceived a baby in each womb before but never
twins in one and a singleton in the other. It is extremely unusual."