They were more than 90 percent likely to die during surgery.
Babies Isla and Jemima Rin, who recently turned one year old, had a 5 percent chance of surviving when they were diagnosed with the rare diagnosis of fetal transfusion syndrome.
This is a very serious complication in multiple pregnancies, which means that babies have a common placenta. This is dangerous because the blood flow of the twins can combine, and then the blood from one of them will flow to the other. It turns out that one becomes a donor, the other – a recipient. Fetal death of children with such a complication occurs very often – from 60 to 100 percent of pregnancies end in tragedy. Moreover, if the syndrome is detected before the 26th week, there is very little chance of saving the children.
Tabitha Rin had to face this misfortune. Her pregnancy was not yet 20 weeks old when her babies were diagnosed with this syndrome. There was a chance to save the girls, but an operation was needed, for the success of which no one could vouch.
Tabitha and her husband Ben did not hesitate: of course, an operation is needed. When the woman was 18 weeks pregnant, she underwent a unique operation at the Women’s Hospital in Birmingham. The intervention was successful. But it was too early to calm down. Now Tabitha needed to do an ultrasound every week.
The 26-year-old woman still recalls what she went through:
“It seemed to me that the whole world stopped until it was confirmed to me that they were hearing two heartbeats. In addition to the weekly ultrasounds, I needed a 90-minute MRI to check if the girls had neurological problems. It took so long, because both girls were moving so actively that the radiologists could not get a clear picture. “
Tabitha gave birth at 29 weeks. And her girls were discharged home only six weeks later. 14 months have passed since then. The girls are cheerful and healthy, and mom and dad will not get enough of them. It took parents a year to realize that their babies were no longer in danger, reports .
“I look at them every day and thank heaven for having them,” says Tabitha.