An Indian woman gave birth to a child with two heads and three arms. The third hand is on the back
For months, Shaheen Khan and her husband So2l had been expecting twins. But they were shocked when Shaheen gave birth to a two-headed child on March 28 in Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh state, India. This particular condition is called dicephalic parapagus – where 2 babies are joined by a trunk – and often leads to s̲t̲i̲l̲l̲b̲i̲r̲t̲h̲. But the miraculously conjoined twins have so far survived and been taken to a hospital in the nearby city of Indore for observation. Shaheen remains in the district hospital in Ratlam.
One of the doctors in charge of the caesarean section, Dr Lahoti, said: “These cases are very rare and the condition of the newborn is still unstable, especially in the first few days. Therefore, we have been monitoring continuously. Currently, the hospital has not scheduled surgery for the patient. Twins born with 2 heads, but sharing the same body, are an extremely unusual and very rare form of conjoined twins. ”
In 2019, a 21-year-old woman in India also gave birth to a baby with 2 heads and 3 arms. Babita Ahirwar and her husband Jaswant Singh Ahirwar said they were shocked to receive their baby on November 23, 2019.Ahirwar said: “We were shocked. It’s unbelievable. Everyone was shocked to see them. We couldn’t believe our baby had two heads.
“The Ahirwar family hails from Basauda village in Vidisha district of Madhya Pradesh state, central India. The couple had been married 18 months earlier and were eagerly awaiting their first child.Sister Ahirwar told a local news agency: “It was a mixed feeling when the nurses handed the baby over to me. At first, I thought it was twins, but when the nurses removed the towel, I was shocked to see that our first child had two heads and three arms. They then vowed to raise the baby the best they could.Surgery to separate conjoined twins is a delicate and risky procedure that requires great care and precision. So the decision to separate the twins was a life-or-death decision.
Mortality rates for twins who undergo separation surgery vary widely, depending on the type of connection and the organs the two share. In cases of twins in which the pumping chambers are conjoined, no survival has been recorded in the literature. Although success rates have improved over the years, surgical separation of conjoined twins is still very rare. Since 1950, at least one of the twins has survived about 75% of the surgeries.
Only after the twins were born were doctors able to use magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound, and coronary angiography to find out what organs the twins shared. To determine the feasibility of separation, doctors must carefully assess how the twins’ shared organs are functioning. After separation, most twins need active rehabilitation because of malformations and changes in spinal position. The muscles in their back are constantly contracting, and they often have trouble bending their backs forward, backward, and sitting up straight.
