Mum gives birth to two babies in two days after medics find she has double womb

23 December 2023 , 12:11

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Kelsey and her obstetrician Dr Patel with Roxy and Rebel (Image: Instagram/@doubleuhatchlings)

A woman with a rare condition that means she has two uteruses and ended up pregnant with a baby in each has given birth to her 'twin' girls.

Kelsey Hatcher, 32, from Alabama, found out in the spring that she was pregnant, but her doctors received a shock. Kelsey and husband Caleb already have three children together and have now welcomed their 'twin' girls, born on separate days in a 20-hour labour.

Kelsey arrived at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital (UAB) on December 19 for a scheduled induction in her fourth pregnancy. While many may think that Kelsey's fourth time giving birth would be relatively simple.

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Kelsey and Caleb were shocked to find out Kelsey was pregnant in both uteri (Instagram/@doubleuhatchlings)

But Kelsey's pregnancy was one in a million. She has a rare double uterus and ended up pregnant with a baby on each side. After 20 hours of labour, she gave birth to her two girls ten hours apart. Baby A, named Roxi, was delivered on December 19 at 7.45pm, weighing seven pounds, seven ounces. Baby B, called Rebel, was delivered on December 20 at 6.10am, weighing seven pounds, three-and-a-half ounces.

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For Kelsey and her family, the miraculous pregnancy meant double the labour, double the babies, and double the birthdays. Kelsey said: "Never in our wildest dreams could we have planned a pregnancy and birth like this; 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's unique pregnancy meant double the babies, double the doctors, and double the birthdays (Instagram/@doubleuhatchlings)

Kelsey was just 17 when she was diagnosed with having a double uterus, known as uterus didelphys. It's a rare congenital anomaly that happens in around 0.3 per cent of women.

According to the Mayo Clinic, a double uterus is a "rare condition" that happens when a female foetus develops. Sometimes, the two small tubes that form the uterus don't join completely to create one large organ.

Just weeks into her fourth pregnancy, Kelsey noticed some bleeding. As women with a double uterus are at higher risk of miscarriage, she made an appointment for her first ultrasound.

The ultrasound showed her baby was doing well, but Kelsey still asked them to check her other uterus to be safe. But, she was in for a surprise.

"As soon as she moved the wand to the other uterus, I gasped," Kelsey recalled. "Sure enough, there was another baby. We just could not believe it."

Roxy was born vaginally while Rebel was born via c-section (Instagram/@doubleuhatchlings)

“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 Richard O. Davis, M.D., professor in the UAB Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine 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.”

Due to the rareness of Kelsey's situation, doctors only had a handful of case reports to study and draw guidance from. They knew there were three potential delivery scenarios: both babies delivered vaginally; one baby delivered vaginally and the other via c-section; both babies delivered via c-section.

When Kelsey arrived at hospital early in the morning of December 19, her induction was started. As she had two uteri, she needed twice the monitoring and charting, and was assigned two labour and delivery nurses to monitor each uterus and baby.

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"As my contractions began, they were not consistently together but were within a few seconds of each other," recalled 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."

Kelsey and Caleb found out early on that they were expecting two children, one from each womb (@WVTM13/YouTube)

Kelsey's right uterus, which had already had two pregnancies, began progressing further and so the team decided to focus on that baby and broke her water on that side. A few hours later, Roxi was delivered vaginally. Kelsey's obstetrician Shweta Patel said: "There was a cheer from everyone in the room when the first baby was delivered, but there was another baby left.

"Kelsey was essentially labouring in the left uterus while simultaneously undergoing the postpartum process in the right. She was having contractions with Baby B while breastfeeding Baby A."

Next, Baby B, Rebel was induced. But she was not descending as anticipated for another vaginal delivery, so, 10 hours after her sister was both, Rebel was delivered via c-section.

The nursing team had Roxy's bassinet in a safe area of the operating room while Rebel was delivered, allowing the sisters to finally meet. Kelsey said: "After such a long and crazy journey, it meant the world to see both of my girls together for the first time."

Kelsey's pregnancy was one in a million (@WVTM13/YouTube)

In their combined 60 years of experience, Dr Patel and Dr Davis had never delivered twins in the circumstances of Kelsey's pregnancy. Dr Patel explained: "It goes to show that the field of obstetrics is always changing and unpredictable, and you don't always have clear-cut answers.

"It takes a team of experts from obstetricians to amazing nurses and a skilled anaesthesia team to take care of such a rare pregnancy. I am grateful that Kelsey was at UAB, where we could provide her with that interdisciplinary care."

But, do Roxy and Rebel class as twins? With two wombs and two birthdays, technically it's a yes and no.

A typical twin pregnancy is defined as two babies in one uterus during the same pregnancy. While Kelsey had one baby in each uterus, two eggs were released that were fertilised during the same ovulation cycle.

"I think it is safe to call the girls fraternal twins," said Dr Davis. "At the end of the day, it was two babies in one belly at the same time. They just had different apartments."

Fiona Leishman