The miracle of birth received another confirmation when a 20-year-old Bangladeshi woman gave birth to twins, 26-days after she had already given birth to her first child.
Dr. Sheila Poddar, a gynecologist at Ad-Din hospital in Dhaka, said Arifa Sultana had given birth to a boy back in February. But after the new mother and child were released from the hospital, she was admitted again after four weeks due to complaints of lower abdominal pain.
She was in for a surprise.
An ultrasound revealed that the new mother was pregnant again, this time with twins.
Sultana's second pregnancy within a month went undetected because she didn't have an ultrasound before her first delivery.
Poddar told AFP:
"She didn't realize she was still pregnant with the twins. Her waters broke again 26 days after the first baby was born and she rushed to us."
According to Poddar, the new mother had a rare congenital abnormality called uterus didelphys, in which a woman develops two uteruses.
The mother gave birth to fraternal twins, a boy and a girl, after a quick and successful C-section.
Poddar updated on Sultana's status, plus three.
"All three children are safe and healthy. The mother is also fine."
Dr. S.N. Basu, head of obstetrics and gynecology at Max Healthcare hospital in New Delhi, explained:
"It is not very common to have two uteruses. When the uterus develops, it comes from two tubes, and those tubes fuse together. For some women, the fusion does not occur, and the dividing wall does not dissolve."
Dilip Roy, chief government doctor in Jessore, was pleasantly surprised over the rare pregnancy and told AFP.
"I haven't seen any case like this in my 30-year plus medical career."
Sultana and her husband Sumon Biswas are both happy about the unexpected additions to the family, but coming from low means, they now face some tough challenges ahead.
Biswas barely earns $70 a month in wages as a laborer, and Sultana said:
"I don't know how we will manage such a huge responsibility with this little amount."
But Biswas assured he was up for the task of raising their family.
"It was a miracle from Allah that all of my children are healthy. I will try my best to keep them happy."
It's a good start.
