Conjoined twins delivered at Kabale Hospital

Kabale

She was admitted at Kabale Regional Referral Hospital at 2:10am yesterday and at 4:20am she delivered conjoined twins by caesarian section. She is in much pain besides being operated but also the trauma after being told that she produced children with abnormalities.

Ms Rosette Tusiime, 24, of Kekubo in Kabale Municipality delivered the conjoined twins (also known as siamese twins) which the director of Kabale Regional Referral Hospital, Dr Placid Mihayo, says they are a result of failure by the identical twins to separate.

“The cause of such situations is the separation failure of identical twins that develop from the same ovum. As of now is not easy to tell whether conjoined twins are safe or not because since they are sharing part of the chest and the abdomen, they are likely to be sharing sensitive organs like the liver and the heart. As of now they are okay,” Dr Mihayo said.

He said their role is to ensure that the conjoined twins are in a conducive environment and the mother receives enough care to quickly recover then the conjoined twins shall be referred to Mulago National Referral Hospital for possible separation. The conjoined twins are all males and were found lying in an incubator at the maternity wing of Kabale Hospital.

God’s plan
“I think that is what God had for me. I did all the antenatal care from this hospital and I expected a single birth,” Tusiime, who is a retail business lady, said.

Chances of giving birth to co-njoined twins is a rare phenomenon and is estimated to range from 1 in 50,000 births to 1 in 100,000 births, with a somewhat higher incidence in Southwest Asia and Africa. Approximately half are stillborn, and a smaller fraction of pairs born alive have abnormalities incompatible with life.

The overall survival rate for conjoined twins is approximately 25 per cent. The condition is more frequently found among females, with a ratio of 3:1.

Conjoined twins share a single common chorion, placenta, and amniotic sac, although these characteristics are not exclusive to conjoined twins as there are some monozygotic. Dr Mihayo said this is the first time to see the conjoined twins at Kabale Hospital although he has ever seen it elsewhere he worked.