A baby with two heads was born at Med-In Specialist Hospital, Osogbo Street, Ogudu, Lagos on Tuesday at about 6.30PM, through an elective caesarean section.

The parents and medical personnel were expecting a set of twins as shown in the various scan results she had throughout her pregnancy.

According to a nurse: “This is the first time I am seeing anything like this. I have watched it in movies but seeing it in real life was such an experience for me. Thankfully, the surgeon ensured that they survived. As I speak to you, the mother doesn’t know the condition of the babies. She still believes and expects to carry her twins. We haven’t told her yet. Only her husband was brought into the theatre to see his children and he was the one who went with the doctors to Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH).”

Speaking to The Nation, the hospital’s Manager Dare Moses said:

There is need to find out if they share major organs together. They may have to be flown abroad for separation if they have separate hearts and other vital organs. It is possible for them to survive. I have seen cases of twins like this in movie surviving and living normal lives.
Normally, when we have cases of pregnant woman expecting twins, we usually go for elective caesarean, which was what the mother opted for.

But when the doctor was trying to extract one of the babies (first one), it got stuck and when he examined further, he discovered that there were two heads in one body. We are happy that the baby was delivered alive and placed on oxygen. Both heads were alive.

It was really amazing. I am proud and thankful that we delivered the baby alive. Yes, several scans were done by the mother in the course of pregnancy at different places, but none discovered any abnormality. We are thankful that the operation was successful.

The condition, known as Parapagus, is a rare form of partial twinning where there are two heads and two necks side by side on one torso.

Parapagus represents about 11% of all conjoined twins.

The Ministry of Health has been notified of the development.

Photo Credit: Solomon Adeola/The Nation