Doctors to operate on baby with conjoined twin protruding from buttocks

Doctors are to attempt to remove a conjoined parasitic twin from a nine-month old baby. Faith Mwampe has the feet of an unformed twin protruding from her buttocks, meaning she may never be able to walk unless it is removed.

The Zambian baby, who was born in April last year, is set to undergo the five-hour operation at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka next Thursday.

Her mother Mercy Lenganji, 18, faces an anxious wait as ten specialist doctors, led by Prof Lupando Munkonge, will try to remove the feet. The baby has already spent the past 26 days undergoing tests ahead of the risky operation.



Mercy had known from scans that she was expecting twins, but during her caesarian section at the Malcolm Mine Hospital in the Zambian town of Mufilira, doctors discovered one of the babies had not developed.

"The doctors kept my child away from me for two days after she was born because they said the sight of her would have put me in shock," said Mercy.

"They put Faith in an incubator as is the procedure with all babies born with deformities in Zambia, and only then was I allowed to see my child. They told me that I would have to wait six months for any operation to help her."