Brazilian baby 'born healthy with two heads... and both are suckling mother's breasts'

• Mother only found about her baby's abnormalities minutes before birth
• This is the second registered case of a two-headed baby being born in Brazil this year

By Matt Roper

Last updated at 1:24 PM on 21st December 2011

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A Brazilian woman has given birth to a baby with two heads, it was reported today.
The boy was born by caesarean at a hospital in Anajas, in Brazil's northern Para state, weighing 9.9lbs.
Scans show that while the child has two perfectly-formed heads, he has one heart and all his vital organs function as normal.

The baby has two heads but all his organs are functioning healthily. The mother was said to have found about the abnormality only minutes before he was born

According to doctors the newborn is in perfect health and both heads have started nursing normally.
The 25-year-old mother, who lives in a rural area of the state, had no ultra-sound scans during her pregnancy and only found out about the abnormality minutes before the baby was born at 1am on Monday morning.

The hospital's director, Claudionor Assis de Vasconcelos, told Brazil's O Povo newspaper that the woman decided to travel to the hospital because she was feeling strong abdominal pains.
He said: 'When doctors scanned her they realised that the baby had two heads and that a normal birth would be a great risk both for mother and baby. The caesarean took an hour because the baby was sitting down.
'Despite all the problems we have as a small interior hospital we managed to save both mother and baby, which was our aim. And for us it was a great surprise to find out that the child was in really good health.'

Disbelief: The director of the hospital tells the assembled media of the birth of a two-headed baby

CONJOINED TWINS

The two-headed boy is, in reality, conjoined twins who share a single body. The condition is known as dicephalic parapagus - an extremely unusual form of conjoinment.
Because they share the same body, it is not possible to separate dicephalic parapagus twins.
The birth of such twins is extremely rare in south-west Asia and Africa.
However, there have been instances of dicephalic parapagus twins in the West.
In the U.S. Abigail and Brittany Hensel have become media celebrities, appearing on the Oprah Winfrey Show and featuring in television documentaries.

Mr Vasconcelos added that at no point did the mother, who has three other children, appear distraught that her son has two heads.
He said: 'On the contrary, the baby was received with much happiness by the family.
'The mother fed both mouths and the baby stayed with her in her room the whole time. Her desire was to take her baby straight home.'
The mother and baby were taken by air ambulance yesterday afternoon to a specialist hospital in the state capital, Belem, to carry out further tests. They are expected to be allowed home later this week.
Remarkably, this is the second time a two-headed baby has been born in Brazil this year. Sueli Ferreira, 27, gave birth to a two-headed baby in Paraiba State, but it died a few hours later because of lack of oxygen to one of the child's heads.

http://osmaiasdeecadequeiros.blogspot.com/2011/12/bebe-de-duas-cabecas-nasce-no-para.html

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