‘One in a million’ pregnancy: US woman gives birth to two babies on different days

A woman from Alabama, US, gave birth to twins in two consecutive days after 20 hours in labour, in what is being described as a "one in a million" pregnancy.

Kelsey Hatcher (32) birthed one daughter on Tuesday (Dec 19), and a second one on Wednesday, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Hospital said on Friday.

The girls were described as fraternal twins —with rare separate birthdays.

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Announcing the arrival of her "miracle babies" on social media, Hatcher praised the doctors, calling them "incredible".

'Never planned a pregnancy like this'

In a separate statement in the hospital’s press release, she said, “Never in our wildest dreams could we have planned a pregnancy and birth like this … but bringing our two healthy baby girls into this world safely was always the goal, and UAB helped us accomplish that.”

“It seems appropriate that they had two birthdays, though. They both had their own ‘houses’, and now both have their own unique birth stories,” she said.

Hatcher first found out that she had a double uterus (uterus didelphys) at the age of 17. According to medics, this phenomenon is rare and affects only 0.3 per cent of women.

Furthermore, the chances of becoming pregnant in both uteri —a dicavitary pregnancy —are even rare, the UAB said.

The last time such a medical anomaly occurred was in 2019 in Bangladesh when a woman with two uteruses gave birth almost a month after delivering a premature baby in her other uterus, according to BBC.

This was Kelsey Hatcher’s fourth pregnancy. She has previously delivered babies from one uterus at a time only.

'Once in a million pregnancy'

But the fact she came to know about carrying two babies in separate uteruses when she went for an ultrasound check-up after noticing bleeding weeks into the latest pregnancy. She wanted to take preventive measures as there are higher chances of miscarriages for those with double uteruses.

During the appointment, doctors found that Hatcher had an additional foetus forming in her left uterus.

“As soon as she moved the wand to the other uterus, I gasped,” Hatcher said in the hospital press release. “Sure enough, there was another baby. We just could not believe it.”

The UAB Hospital, however, described her pregnancy as routine. Prof Richard Davis, who co-managed the delivery, pointed out that each baby had enjoyed "extra space to grow and develop".

This was because each baby had a womb to itself, he said - unlike in a typical twin pregnancy, reports BBC.

(With inputs from agencies)