My twins were given 10% chance of survival, but now they’re thriving
Baby twins have beaten remarkable odds after being given just a 10% chance of survival before their birth.
Sally Kynoch, 29, from Elgin, Scotland was more than halfway through her pregnancy when she was transferred from Aberdeen hospital to Glasgow Children's hospital. It was there that specialists diagnosed her unborn babies with stage 4 twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS), a serious condition where twins sharing one placenta can suffer fatal imbalances if one twin donates more blood than it receives.
The rare pregnancy condition occurs in pregnancies where twins share one placenta and a network of blood vessels that supply oxygen and nutrients essential for development in the womb. The situation was serious for the recipient twin, as it meant she was susceptible to heart complications due to an excess of blood potentially causing the heart to overwork which can lead to cardiac failure.
"There was no fluid around twin 2 and no bladder could be found - she was really small," she says of the moment she received her diagnosis. "Twin 1 had a lot of fluid around her and was noticeably much larger than her sister."
Sally was told the babies were extremely poorly and were both going into heart failure. After discussing possible options with her doctor the family decided to go ahead with complicated laser ablation surgery whilst pregnant in a bid to try and save the unborn babies. The treatment involves using a laser beam to seal off some of the blood vessels in the placenta so that both babies receive a more equal supply of blood.
"Without any treatment there was only a 10% chance of both twins surviving," Sally explains. "But after laser ablation there could be a 75% chance of one twin surviving, 45% of both surviving. We were really lucky because the doctor who did the surgery in Glasgow was the only doctor skilled to do it in the whole of Scotland. She decided to do the surgery on the same day she had initially seen us because she just feared that waiting any longer was just going to be too late for them. And thankfully the laster ablation was successful."
On February 2024, at 37 weeks gestation, Kelsea and Willow were born, each weighing just over 3lbs. "We stayed in the neonatal unit for a month, but they were breathing on their own and doing really well," their mum explains. "The staff were amazing and the support and care the babies and us received was amazing during our time there."
Fast forward almost eight months and despite a difficult pregnancy and some "scary" odds, the twins are thriving.
Sally is keen to keep sharing her story to raise more awareness on TTTS and help other families who may be going through the same. "There is only 400 cases of it in the UK every year," the new mum explains. "A lot of other stories that I had read at the time did not have successful outcomes so it did not give me much hope at all.
"If I can give families some positivity that is great. It was such a scary time and to be honest I am still trying to get my head round it, but we are forever grateful for everything that was done to save our twins."
After experiencing such great care from the doctors and the rest of the Foetal Medicine team, Sally and her family wanted to express their thanks and raise vital funds so held a charity Tractor Run. They raised over £4,000 overall for both the Foetal Medicine team - where the laser ablation was done and the neonatal unit in Aberdeen.
Additional reporting SWNS.
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