Woman with two wombs delivers surprise twins – one month after having first child

A Bangladeshi woman with two wombs has unexpectedly given birth to twins just under a month after becoming a mother for the first time.

Arifa Sultana, 20, from a rural village in Bangladesh, gave birth to a son in late February.

However, 26 days later she was taken to the Ad-din Hospital in Jessore district with what she thought was stomach pain.

After diagnosing the symptoms as pregnancy, Dr Sheila Poddar, a gynaecologist at the hospital, performed a caesarean and delivered Sultana’s twins: a boy and a girl.

“When the patient came in we performed an ultrasound on her and found there were twin babies,” Dr Poddar told the BBC.

“We were very shocked and surprised. I have never observed something like this before.”

READ MORE: Is it possible to have a surprise pregnancy?

Sultana has a condition known as uterus didelphys, according to the publication, a disorder where a woman has two wombs rather than the usual one.

It is said to affect one in 3,000 women in the UK, and in rare cases can lead to multiple births.

“She had no idea that she had two other babies,” said Dr Poddar. “We carried out a caesarean and she delivered twins, one male and female.”

While one might question how Sultana was aware she was bearing twins, Poddar explained the family were “very poor” and had “never had an ultrasound before”.

Despite the unexpected nature of the birth, the twins were delivered safely. Sultana and her twins were discharged from the hospital four days later, and they (in addition to their slightly older brother) are all said to be doing well.

READ MORE: Grandmother gives birth at age 50

“The babies and her are all healthy. I am very, very happy that everything went well,” Dr Poddar said.

How common are double pregnancies?

“Having two wombs, also known as uteris didelphys, is really not very common at all,” Dr Amin Gorgy, Fertility Consultant at The Fertility & Gynaecology Academy, tells Yahoo UK.

“It is estimated that one in 3,000 will have this condition, and many may not be aware of it as the condition is usually asymptomatic. It’s often diagnosed after problems getting pregnant or following a pelvic examination.

“Double uterus is commonly associated with 30% increased risk of miscarriage, 43% risk breech presentation of the baby, 53% risk preterm rupture of membranes and 95% risk preterm labour.

“The likelihood of women having double pregnancies with uterus didelphys is very rare – about one in a million – as in the case of Arifa Sultana from Bangladesh.”

Sultana is not the only recent example of a mother with two wombs giving birth.

Earlier this year, a teenager with the condition woke from a coma to find she had given birth – despite no prior knowledge she was pregnant.

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