Siamese twins die at Harare Hospital

The Siamese twins born to a Kadoma woman two weeks ago at Chegutu Hospital have died at Harare Hospital after they succumbed to heart complications. The father Mabvuto Bero confirmed the sad development. 

“The boys died on Tuesday, a day after we had taken them for a scan. The results had revealed that one of the twins had two heart chambers while the other had four normal chambers.

“A specialist at Avenues Clinic, where we had the scan, told us that both boys had holes in their hearts, a condition that greatly reduced their chances of survival. He told us that the heart conditions required a surgical operation in Canada. However, they died the following day after the scan.”

“The birth and death of the twins has left a lot of unanswered questions. I don’t know what is going to happen if my wife and I decide to have another child. Although the doctors have tried to explain to me in medical terms, I am still not convinced,” he said.

The mother of the twins, Susan Shonhiwa (27), also spoke of her pain.

“My heart is overburdened. It’s difficult to lose a child soon after birth and my situation is made worse by the fact that I am yet to recover from the caesarian operation I had. I have no money to seek treatment . . . everything is just going wrong.”

Conjoined twins are two babies that are born physically connected to each other.

Conjoined twins develop when an early embryo partially separates to form two individuals. Although two fetuses will develop from this embryo, they will remain physically connected — most often at the chest, pelvis or buttocks. Conjoined twins may also share one or more internal organs.

Most conjoined twins are stillborn or die shortly after birth.

Some surviving conjoined twins can be surgically separated. The success of surgery to separate conjoined twins depends on where the twins are joined and how many and which organs are shared, as well as on the experience and skill of the surgical team.