Under the care of physicians at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, a woman with a double uterus gave birth to two baby girls in December.
Kelsey Hatcher was diagnosed with uterus didelphys, or double uterus, when she was 17. She was a mother of three and had carried in each uterus during her previous pregnancies. While a double uterus is rare, carrying in each uterus is even rarer and is considered a one-in-a-million chance.
On Dec. 19 and Dec. 20, Ms. Hatcher was that one-in-a million case, when she delivered two healthy girls 10 hours apart. The first baby was delivered vaginally and the second via c-section. Her pregnancy was co-managed by Richard Davis, MD, professor in the UAB division of maternal-fetal medicine and Shweta Patel, MD, assistant professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology, who had been planning for three potential delivery scenarios, according to a Dec. 22 news release.
Dr.'s Davis and Patel have a combined total of nearly 60 years of experience and had never delivered cavitary twins prior to Ms. Hatcher's case.
"It goes to show that the field of obstetrics is always changing and unpredictable, and you don’t always have clear-cut answers," Dr. Patel said. "It takes a team of experts from obstetricians to amazing nurses and a skilled anesthesia 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."
Her physicians say the babies are considered fraternal twins.