PHOTO: Newly born conjoined twin
By Tokpa Tarnue-tarnue822@gmail.com
VOINJAMA, Liberia- In a rare occurrence here, a 35-year-old woman identified as Madusu Sheriff has given birth to a set of conjoined twin at the government-run Tellewoyan Memorial Hospital in the northwestern Lofa County, 392 kilometers from Monrovia.
The 35-year-old woman successfully gave birth to the set of male twin on Saturday, June 11, 2022 at 2:00 Pm without any form of medical complications.
Conjoined twins are twins that are born with their bodies physically connected.
Research has shown that conjoined twins occur once in every 50,000 to 60,000 births; approximately 70 percent of conjoined twins are female, and most are stillborn.
According to the medical director at the Tellewoyan Hospital, Dr. Wilmot Frank, the administration of the John F. Kennedy or JFK hospital through its administrator Dr. Jerry Brown has called for the kids to be transported to the JFK in the Liberian capital, Monrovia as soon as possible in order to undergo operations that will possibly separate them.
The 35-year-old mother has had previous deliveries with no deformity of three, all boys who are said to be healthy.
“This is my forth delivery that I have experienced such complication; but I am very sure that my boys will survived,” the mother of the conjoined twin told Journalists in Voinjama.
But catering for the additional children will be an uphill struggle for the parents, both of whom are out of job.
They are calling on government and other humanitarians to aid them in transporting the kids and their mother to Monrovia for a planned operations at the John F. Kennedy hospital.
The 35 years old mother Madusu Sheriff can however be reached through cell number 0777-256-806
How long to conjoined twins live for?
Medical experts say this number could be higher, but most of these pregnancies result in miscarriages and still births; only 18% of all conjoined infants survive (2), and approximately 35% of live births die within the first 24 hours, and only 18% of all conjoined twins survive longer than 24 hours.
Are there conjoined triplets?
In a previous review of the literature, only 3 cases of true conjoined triplets have been found.
However, all 3 cases occurred in the 19th or early 20th century. 3, 4, 5 because conjoined triplets are rare, there is no classification system for this disorder.