An Alabama mother with a rare double uterus has delivered a set of twins, the hospital treating her announced.
In what doctors are calling a “one-in-a-million” pregnancy, 32-year-old Kelsey Hatcher delivered a set of twin daughters, one of whom was in each womb, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) hospital.
Ms Hatcher – after 20 hours of labour – gave birth to Roxi Layla on Tuesday and her second daughter, Rebel Laken, on Wednesday, she announced on Instagram.
“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,” Ms Hatcher said in the hospital’s press release.
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“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.
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Ms Hatcher was first diagnosed with uterus didelphys, or a double uterus, at the age of 17. The condition is a rare uterine anomaly seen in only 0.3 per cent of women.
The latest delivery is Ms Hatcher’s fourth pregnancy. She previously delivered babies from one uterus each at a time.
Weeks into the latest pregnancy, Ms Hatcher noticed bleeding and made an appointment for an ultrasound, as those with double uteruses have higher rates of miscarriage. During the appointment, doctors discovered she had an additional foetus forming in her left uterus.
“As soon as she moved the wand to the other uterus, I gasped,” Ms Hatcher said in the hospital press release. “Sure enough, there was another baby. We just could not believe it.”
Ms Hatcher told NBC News in November that her husband, Caleb, had almost not believed her, given the rareness of such pregnancy.
“He said: ‘You’re lying.’ I said: ‘No, I’m not,’” Ms Hatcher remarked to NBC.
Ms Hatcher’s team described her pregnancy as otherwise “routine” except for a few additional appointments and a birth plan to forecast all possibilities in the delivery.
Her labour was ultimately induced at 39 weeks. When she arrived at UAB on December 19th, she was already dilated 4cm in her right cervix and 3cm in her left.
Ms Hatcher required “twice the monitoring and charting” given her double uterus – and twice the amount of hospital staff.
After hours of labour, she delivered Roxi Layla vaginally, and Rebel Laken by Caesarean section the next day.
“After such a long and crazy journey, it meant the world to see both of my girls together for the first time,” Ms Hatcher said. – Guardian