Medical Miracle: Woman With Two Uteruses Delivers Twins

A woman with a rare medical condition known as uterus didelphys, or double uterus, gave birth to twins at a Florida hospital last week.

Doctors, in a written statement released by Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater, put the odds of such a pregnancy at one in five million as the process of conceiving requires two eggs to be released and fertilized at the same time in two different uteri.

Twins were delivered via C-section on Sept. 15. Now they are named Nathan and Natalie Barbosa.

Nathan was born at 36 weeks and weighed 5 pounds, 8 ounces. His sister emerged two minutes later, weighing 5 pounds, 10 ounces.

The mother and infants are healthy, according to doctors at Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater.

Uterus didelphys or Double Uterus:

Uterus didelphys or double uterus affects about one in 2,000 women worldwide.

Uterus didelphys (also uterus didelphis) represents a uterine malformation where the uterus is present as a paired organ, as the embryogenetic fusion of the mullerian ducts failed to occur. As a result, there is a double uterus with two separate cervices, and often a double vagina as well. Each uterus has a single horn linked to the ipsilateral fallopian tube that faces its ovary.

Double uterus develops in the female fetus before birth and occurs when the two tubes that normally fuse together to form the uterus fail to form, developing into two separate cavities.

In the United States, uterus didelphys is reported to occur in 0.1-0.5% of women. Patients with a double uterus may need special attention during pregnancy as premature birth and mal-presentation are common.

Generally, the uterus didelphys symptoms are mainly about severe pain during a menstrual cycle and lot of bleeding, which might happen through the periods. The condition of uterus didelphys is usually harmless and person can have a safe pregnancy, without any chances of complications. Still, it is always advisable that the person takes approval of the doctor and follows some simple treatment steps which can help during those months. A didelphis uterus is a rare condition and it has been observed that around 80% of the cases of uterus didelphys go through a C-section for successful delivery.