A Bangladesh woman has given birth to three children, all in the space of a month, CNN reports.
According to Dr Sheila Poddar, a gynaecologist in Dhaka, her patient Arifa Sultana gave birth to a healthy baby boy in late February but four weeks later, was back at the Ad-Din hospital complaining of "lower abdominal pain."
As a result, doctors performed an ultrasound and realized Arifa was pregnant – with twins.
Dr Poddar admits that because they did not perform an ultrasound before the first delivery, they missed out on discovering the second pregnancy.
Arifa has a condition called uterus didelphys, which means her children were conceived and grown in separate wombs.
"It is not very common to have two uteruses," Dr. S.N. Basu, head of obstetrics and gynaecology at Max Healthcare hospital in New Delhi said. "When the uterus develops, it comes from two tubes, and those tubes fuse together. For some women, the fusion does not occur, and the dividing wall does not dissolve."
Following the discovery, doctors performed a C-section to deliver the twins: a boy and a girl.
The 20-year-old mom and her new-borns were discharged on 25 March after four days in hospital.
"The babies and [mom] are all healthy. I am very, very happy that everything went well," Dr Sheila reported.
Mayo clinic describes uterus didelphys as a "rare congenital abnormality." They add that in a female fetus, "the uterus starts out as two small tubes. As the fetus develops, the tubes normally join to create one larger, hollow organ — the uterus."
However, sometimes the tubes don't join completely, "Instead, each one develops into a separate structure."
Women who have a double uterus often have successful pregnancies "but the condition can increase the risk of miscarriage or premature birth."
Sources: CNN, ABC, BBC, Mayo Clinic
