Mauritian couple give birth to siamese twins

The Papillon couple were expecting twins at the beginning of the year. However, Marie Hélène gave birth to Siamese twins.At 36 years old, she is already the mother of three boys.

She was allowed to leave the hospital four days after her cesarean delivery.

“From the fourth month of pregnancy, the doctor saw that we would have two babies. We were very happy. Each time the doctor showed me two babies during the ultrasound with two hearts, right and left. However, during the delivery I was told that the babies were glued together. I’m still in shock not knowing what happened, mother of the siamese twins Marie Helene Papillon said.

These are very rare in the world, approximately one in every 190,000 births.

At birth, the siamese twins of the Papillon family weighed 4.1 kilograms.

They are bound by the rib cage and abdomen with a fusion of parts of the heart.

A Pediatrician at the Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital, Dr. Nasseema Aumeer, gave an update on the siamese babies.

“In terms of breathing, they caused some problems. The plan is that they can be sent abroad to a specialized centre. We should have a centre that can separate and give each child his or her heart so that he or she can have an autonomous circulation. It will also be necessary to separate the liver so that everyone can have separate, autonomous organs; functioning as two individual babies. We hope to achieve this with the Department’s input.”

The father of siamese twins, Ian Papillon is making preparations for the babies to be flown out of the country.

“I am taking the necessary steps for their passports until the department is ready to send them abroad. So far so good but I don’t know in the long run how it will turn out. The Ministry will send the children, as well as the mother, abroad at its own expense. I wish the ministry would show a more human face by sending a caregiver with my wife who has just had a cesarean section. She will not be able to travel alone in this position”

The last birth of Siamese in Mauritius dates back to 1992.

The Siamese sisters will remain under observation in the neonatal intensive care unit pending their final separation.

Africanews correspondent