A woman with two wombs who was pregnant in each has given birth to healthy twins, after having double the contractions throughout a 20-hour labour.
Kelsey Hatcher, 32, delivered her one-in-a-million babies at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Hospital in the US, over two days – meaning the twins have separate birthdays.
Roxi was born at 7.45pm on December 19, followed by Rebel at 6.10am the next morning.
‘Never in our wildest dreams could we have planned a pregnancy and birth like this,’ said Kelsey. ‘But bringing our two healthy baby girls into this world safely was always the goal, and UAB helped us accomplish that.
‘It seems appropriate that they had two birthdays, though. They both had their own “houses”, and now both have their own unique birth stories.’
Kelsey was 17 when she found out she had the rare congenital condition known as uterus didelphys, which occurs in around 0.3% of women. She has two uteruses, each with its own ovary, fallopian tube and cervix.
The condition occurs when the two ‘horns’ of the uterus do not join together while forming before birth, creating two separate wombs.
Kelsey already has three children, each carried in her right uterus. She discovered the rare twins – known as a dicavitary pregnancy – after an ultrasound following bleeding early on.
‘As soon as she moved the wand to the other uterus, I gasped,’ said Kelsey. ‘Sure enough, there was another baby. We just could not believe it.’
She has been documenting the journey on her Instagram, @doubleuhatchlings, and has been closely monitored by the UAB team throughout.
‘I had already taken care of Kelsey through her third pregnancy and knew she had a double uterus, but that was only one baby – two babies in two uteri were a true medical surprise,’ said her obstetrician, Dr Shweta Patel, an assistant professor at UAB.
‘I knew I would need additional expertise. Luckily, I was able to reach out to my UAB maternal-fetal medicine colleagues who specialise in high-risk obstetrics cases and unique pregnancies.’
Thankfully, other than a few extra check-ups, Kelsey’s pregnancy went smoothly.
‘In a typical twin pregnancy, the twins share one womb, which can limit the amount of space each has, making preterm or early birth a high possibility,’ said Professor Richard O Davis, who co-managed Kelsey’s pregnancy. ‘With Kelsey’s babies, they each had their own womb, sac, placenta and umbilical cord, allowing them extra space to grow and develop.’
When it came time for the birth, Kelsey hoped to deliver both naturally. She was induced at 39 weeks, and labour began progressing smoothly.
‘As my contractions began, they were not consistently together but were within a few seconds of each other,’ said Kelsey. ‘I felt each side contracting in different areas as well. I felt one consistent with the monitor that started on the left side and moved to the right.’
A few hours into labour Roxi, who grew in the right-hand uterus, was born, weighing 7lb 7oz.
‘There was a cheer from everyone in the room when the first baby was delivered, but there was another baby left,’ said Dr Patel. ‘Kelsey was essentially labouring in the left uterus while simultaneously undergoing the postpartum process in the right. She was having contractions with Baby B [Rebel] while breastfeeding Baby A [Roxi].’
Kelsey’s labour continued, but when Rebel did not descend as anticipated, the team decided to deliver her by caesarean, and the following morning she joined her sister, weighing 7lbs 3.5oz.
‘After such a long and crazy journey, it meant the world to see both of my girls together for the first time,’ said Kelsey.
Now after nine months of waiting, Kelsey and her husband Caleb are enjoying getting to know their new babies – leaving just one big question. Are Roxi and Rebel are technically twins?
‘I think it is safe to call the girls fraternal twins,’ said Professor Davis. ‘At the end of the day, it was two babies in one belly at the same time.
‘They just had different apartments.’
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