Siamese Twins Die

The siamese twins after delivery

The Siamese twins who were delivered at the Maamobi Polyclinic last Wednesday are reported dead. They died at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in the evening of Sunday, January 9, 2011.

The babies, both females, were joined at the hip and had four normal hands, two normal legs and two deformed legs.

The twins, who weighed 6.5 kilogrammes at birth, were said to be in good health when they were referred to Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital for assessment and possible separation.

Their health was, however, said to have deteriorated and they died in succession. According to the Public Relations Officer of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Mr Mustapha Salifu, the health of the babies deteriorated with time.

He said a team of experts was put together to assess a possible separation on Saturday but it was realised that their condition was not too good for an operation to be performed on them.

He said the team referred the twins to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the hospital to stabilise them and they were put on observation for a decision to be taken on Monday, January 10, 2011.

However, they passed away a day before. According to the PRO, one died first, and the condition affected the other, who also died later.

When contacted, the consultant obstetrics and gynaecologist at the Maamobi Polyclinic, Dr Kwame Agyeman, who had delivered the babies, said the situation was unfortunate.

He bemoaned the number of outdated medical equipment being used in the country, saying that a modern scan machine could have detected the situation earlier and helped to alleviate the trauma that the mother was presently going through.