Conjoined twins born sharing three legs

MASAKA.

It was shocking news to Ms Sharon Kankunda, 22, who gave birth to conjoined twin boys at Masaka Regional Referral Hospital on Tuesday afternoon.

Ms Kankunda, a resident of Lwemiyaga village in Sembabule District, was brought to the hospital by relatives and upon admission, was immediately taken to the theatre for a cesarean operation.

According to Dr Herbert Kalema, a senior surgeon and gynaecologist at the hospital, Ms Kankunda delivered conjoined twins with a combined weight of 6.2kg.

The twins share sexual and abdominal organs such as the small and large intestines, rectum and anal canal.
They also share the right leg though they have different left legs.

Ms Kankunda said during pregnancy she regularly went for antenatal check ups at Sembabule Health Centre IV and was told she had twins, but did not know they were conjoined.
“I am shocked. I expected twins, but not these ones who are conjoined. I just pray that God helps us to have them successfully separated,” she said.

Dr Kalema told Saturday Monitor that it is not common or easy for medics to detect conjoined twins before birth.
He said there is a possibility of separating the babies after five years.

This is the fourth set of conjoined twins Dr Kalema has handled during his career.
The conjoined twins have been shifted to a special care unit for observation.

Ms Harriet Namukasa, a nursing officer who attended to Kankunda, said the mother was out of danger and would soon be transferred to Mulago National Referral Hospital for further handling.

Causes
Dr Herbert Kalema, a senior surgeon and gynaecologist, attributed the cause of the abnormality to a failed process where the ovum did not separate at the initial stage of the pregnancy. He said the fertilised ovum could have delayed to separate or the separation took long probably more than four days. He said the separation has to take place immediately after fertilisation in order to have two separate babies each having its own sack and placenta.