Alabama woman with rare double uterus gives birth twice in two days

A woman in America has given birth to two babies, two days apart, Anila Dhami reports

A woman with a rare double uterus has given birth to two baby girls after 20 hours of labour - it has been described by doctors as a "one in a million" pregnancy.

Kelsey Hatcher, from Alabama in America, has two uteri - what is even rarer is she fell pregnant in both of them at the same time.

She and her husband Caleb welcomed Roxi and Rebel on December 19 and 20 at the University of Alabama Hospital.

Recalling the moment she gave birth to Roxy, Kelsey said: "Everybody got super emotional when Roxy was born, because it was like 'we did it' 'we successfully did this'.

"Lots of tears, lots of clapping, it was fun. But then the reality hit that, okay, well we have another that we have to take care of too."

Kelsey Hatcher and her husband Caleb with their twins. Credit: Andrea Mabry / University of Alabama

Ms Hatcher had a natural delivery with her first baby, and had a C-section for the second.

She added: “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."

So are they twins? Yes and no.

Roxi and Rebel came from different wombs and have different birthdays, and a twin pregnancy is normally defined as two eggs sharing a uterus.

But they were fertilised in the same ovulation cycle. Doctors say it's enough to call them twins.

Twins Roxy and Rebel were born 10 hours apart from different wombs Credit: University of Alabama

Ms Hatcher was diagnosed with a double uterus when she was 17. The condition occurs in 0.3% of women, according to the University of Alabama.

It happens when the "Müllerian ducts" fail to fuse together when a girl is just a fetus.

Each uterus has one fallopian tube and one ovary. In Ms Hatcher's case, she also has two cervices.

The rare double uterus condition happens when the Müllerian ducts don't fuse together when the girl is still a fetus. Credit: Jody Potter / University of Alabama

Ms Hatcher first discovered she was pregnant in both uteri after she noticed some bleeding and went for her first ultrasound.

The ultrasound showed her baby was doing well, and Ms Hatcher asked for her second uterus to be checked, just in case.

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

Her obstetrician was in disbelief until she was able to look at the scans herself.

Kelsey Hatcher with Roxy in hospital, shortly after giving birth Credit: University of Alabama

While going through labour, Ms Hatcher said her contractions "were not consistently together but were within a few seconds of each other".

"I felt each side contracting in different areas as well. I felt one consistent with the monitor that started on the left side and moved to the right."

After giving birth to Roxy, Ms Hatcher was still labouring in the left uterus, while undergoing the postpartum process in the right. She was having contractions while breastfeeding Roxy.

As Rebel was being born, the nursing team arrange for Roxy's bassinet to be in a safe area of the operating room, allowing for the siblings to meet soon after.

“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.

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