Mum stuns doctors after giving birth to baby with head and arms of his parasitic TWIN attached to his chest
The baby boy is fully formed, but his parasitic twin never properly developed in the womb. Doctors say chances of saving the boy and separating him are high
A WOMAN in India shocked doctors when she gave birth to a baby boy, with the head and arms of his parasitic twin still attached to his chest.
The yet-to-be named baby is fully formed but has his twin, who is missing genital and legs, is still attached to his body.
Both the babies have separate heart and lungs but they share the same liver as well as much of their blood supply.
Doctors believe the chances of detaching the parasitic twin are high but admit the surgery will be lengthy and complicated.
Hemlata Singh, 28, had no scans throughout her pregnancy and was planning to give birth at home.
However, late last Saturday when the baby did not arrive, despite Hemlata suffering labour pains all day, her husband, a daily wage labour took her to hospital.
At Ummed Women's Hospital in Udaipur in Rajasthan she delivered the baby boy in the early hours of the morning.
The baby arrived weighing 8lbs 1oz, but to Hemlata and the doctors' shock, he arrived with the remains of a parasitic twin still attached.
Dr Anurag Singh, Professor of paediatrics at the hospital said the birth marked a rare case of a parasitic twin.
But he said medics hope the remains can be detached from the newborn soon.
WHAT IS A PARASITIC TWIN?
Similar to a conjoined twin, in the case of a parasitic twin, one of the babies is not fully formed, and was never a viable fetus.
Parasitic twins happen when a twin embryo begins to develop in the womb.
The pair fail to fully separate and one embryon remains dominant, at the expense of its twin.
The underdeveloped twin is defined as being parasitic, rather than conjoined, because it is incompletely formed and wholly dependent on the body of its twin.
"It is definitely a rare case of parasitic twin where the second baby is not fully formed," Dr Singh said.
"They luckily have separate hearts but share the internal mammary artery.
"This could make it little complicated to operate but chances of saving the baby is high as it is healthy."
"We are monitoring the condition of the strong baby and taking help of cardiologist to plan a surgery as soon as their condition is stable."