A woman has given birth to a “miracle” boy after his twin sister died as a fetus at 17 weeks, doctors said on Wednesday.
Doctors at Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital told a news conference that the boy, now three months old, weighed 1.16kg at birth — 84 days after his mother miscarried his sibling — and 4.3kg at his most recent checkup.
The hospital’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology treated a 37-year-old woman surnamed Liu (柳) several months ago, the doctors said.
Photo courtesy of Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital
Department deputy head Tsai Ching-chang (蔡慶璋) said that Liu had undergone six years of fertility treatment before becoming pregnant with twins, a boy and a girl, through in vitro fertilization.
However, she reported discomfort in her lower back 17 weeks into her pregnancy, Tsai said.
After further complications, Liu was rushed to the emergency room, but miscarried the female fetus, he said.
The department performed a cervical cerclage to tighten and secure her dilated cervix in a bid to protect the remaining fetus, Tsai said.
Following the procedure, Liu was bedridden in the hospital for two weeks before being discharged and sent home 19 weeks into her pregnancy.
Cheng Hsin-hsin (鄭欣欣), head of the hospital’s obstetrical unit, said that Liu returned to the hospital in the 28th week of her pregnancy after developing abdominal pain and bleeding, along with complications affecting her cervix.
After a week of treatment, Liu developed chorioamnionitis — an infection of the membranes and fluid around a fetus — prompting doctors to induce birth in the 29th week, Cheng said.
The delayed birth of a second twin is a medical rarity, so there were no guidelines for the hospital’s obstetrical team to follow, she said.
It was the first time that the obstetrical department had performed a cervical cerclage on a case as rare as Liu’s, Tsai said, adding that there are few documented cases they could refer to for guidance.
There is documentation for only a handful of delayed births of twins, ranging from one to 152 days, the hospital said.
The birth of the boy 84 days following a miscarriage was nothing short of a miracle, the hospital said, crediting the efforts of Liu and the hospital’s obstetrical team.
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