Experts at Mulago Hospital have decided to put a pair of conjoined twins on palliative care which only relieves pain for the terminally ill after investigations indicated that they are inseparable.
The babies delivered by Sophie Badaru were rushed to Mulago Referral hospital in Kampala on September 25, 2019 with hopes they would be separated by surgery.
However, Mulago Deputy Director Dr Jolly Natukunda says the twins “had a single stomach and they were also sharing urinary bladder and liver.”
Dr Jolly Nankunda, the acting deputy director of Mulago Specialised Women and Neonatal hospital, said the twins who were delivered by C- section were referred from Arua regional referral Hospital at three days and arrived at Mulago National Referral Hospital casualty on September 25, 2019 at 3am.
“On arrival, they were noted to be very sick and were transferred to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in Mulago Specialised Women and Neonatal Hospital by the Paediatric-surgeon after reviewing them. In NICU, they were put on oxygen under a radiant warmer which helped to improve their breathing and colour,” Dr Nankunda said.
Dr Nankunda further explained in a statement issued on Friday that: “They were noted to be joined from the thorax abdomen up to the pelvis, they were sharing the abdomen with a common umbilicus and a tight omphalocele with no anal opening. A smaller twin had a severe microcephaly [smaller head than expected] and the twins had a fused pelvis with three lower limbs.”
According to Dr Evelyn Nabunya, the executive director of the Mulago Women and Neonatal hospital, the parents were informed about the situation of the children and they decided to go back to Arua with their twins.
