Having a baby is a life changing experience. For women in Bangladesh, this process is a little different than women in a more developed area. A lot of the time, they don’t even know they’re pregnant until they’re showing. It’s very casual and natural, which is maybe why this happened to 20-year-old Arifa.
Excited New Mom
Arifa Sultana was only 20-years-old when she first got pregnant. As someone who was extremely family oriented, she was ecstatic when she missed her first few periods.
Rural Town
Arifa lives in rural Bangladesh. She and her husband, a day laborer, lived a quiet and quaint life. They were happy, albeit a little nervous as they didn’t have access to modern medicine.
No Ultrasound
Throughout her entire pregnancy, Arifa didn’t even get an ultrasound of her baby. This is extremely common in rural Bangladesh. In fact, these areas are known for not having good maternity access.
Itâs Risky
Being pregnant in this far-out area can be risky, but Arifa and were husband were willing to try. She did her best to stay healthy during the pregnancy and just hoped that it would pay off.
New Mom
Since this was Arifa’s first pregnancy, she didn’t really know what to expect. All she had to go by were wives tales and her friends’ experiences.
Pretty Unproblematic
Luckily, Arifa had a very healthy pregnancy. She hadn’t run into any problems that forced her to go to the hospital, and she was thankful for that.
Itâs Time!
Finally, it was time. Arifa started feeling the cramps of labor and knew that the baby was coming. It was time to make arrangements to go to the nearest city.
At the Hospital
The couple arrived at the hospital… This is the first time they’d been there since she got pregnant. They were anxious about getting checked up…
Everything Checked Out
The doctors checked Arifa’s vitals, which looked good. Then, they checked the baby’s vitals, which were also good! This was great news for the parents. They were ready to welcome their healthy baby…
Boy or Girl?
Since they never got an ultrasound, they actually don’t know the sex of the baby! Doctors don’t do ultrasounds during labor as it’s not necessary, so they were just going to wait until the birth.
Easy Labor
Luckily, Arifa ended up having a pretty easy labor. She had no complications. Although, when the baby boy was born, they noticed something…
Premature
The baby was definitely premature. It wasn’t bad where his life was in danger, but he needed to stay in the hospital for a few days…
Everyone Goes Home Happy and Healthy
She was able to return back to her rural village with her son and husband happy and healthy. They were ready to start this new journey!
Motherhood
Arifa was excited for motherhood. Raising a baby in rural Bangladesh is vastly different than in the city, but she knew that she was ready. Things were great… For now.
A Month Later
Arifa and her husband were in new-baby bliss. Despite being premature, he was growing stronger and stronger very day. Just 26 days after having the baby, Arifa woke up in horrific pain…
Whatâs Happening?
She immediately knew that something was wrong. The nearest hospital was miles and miles away… All she knew was that she wanted to stay alive for her baby.
Was This A Post-Natal Complication?
Arifa didn’t know much about the aftercare of labor, and she was afraid that she was having a complication… She was even more afraid that it would be deadly.
Heading to the Hospital
Her husband whisked her to the hospital. When they got there, she told the doctors what she was feeling. They decided to perform an ultrasound on her to see if anything was going wrong in her uterus…
What Could It Be?
Some of the doctors thought it was maybe a fissure, a tear, or maybe a burst cyst? They needed to find out quickly… They weren’t prepared for what they saw.
The Doctor Was Shocked
“When the patient came in we performed an ultrasound on her and found there were twin babies,” Dr Poddar said. “We were very shocked and surprised. I have never observed something like this before.”
In Labor… Again?
Apparently, Arifa was in labor again. There wasn’t much time to figure out what was going on… They just wanted to make sure that these babies (yes, two!) came out safe and sound.
Going Under
Since this came as such a shock and the situation became very serious very quickly, they needed to perform an emergency Caesarean section.
Healthy Babies!
After the invasive surgery, the babies were born. They were very healthy and shockingly had no complications. The parents were extremely shocked… What was going on exactly?
Miracle Babies
Obviously, Arifa was not prepped for two more babies… Yet, she still knew that they were miracles. “It was a miracle from Allah that all my children are healthy. I will try my best to keep them happy.””
Parents of Three
Now, they had two boys and a girl! With a full family like that, they definitely have their hands full. So, what exactly happened with them?
What is Uterus Didelphys?
This is a syndrome where a woman has two uteri. Doctors assumed that the two uteri released three eggs that got fertilized. One got fertilized a month before the other two, which is why the births were spread out.
How Did She Not Know?
Dr. Basu explained to CNN, “From rural areas, people don’t know what is wrong with them. They don’t know how many children they are pregnant with and sometimes whether they are pregnant also.”
Rural Life
This wasn’t totally uncommon… Since Arifa lived in such a rural area, she didn’t have access to the medical practices that other women had access to. She never went to a doctors appointment, so she never got an ultrasound.
An Ultrasound Could Have Solved It
“If you go for a scan beforehand it would be very obvious to see two sets of uteruses. But obviously, they are from a more rural area [and might not have access to ultrasound scanning],” Dr Christopher Ng of the GynaeMD Clinic told the BBC.
That’s Just Life
According to Dr. Poddar, Aria and her husband are “very poor” and she had “never had an ultrasound before” in her pregnancy.
Family of Five!
Now, with everything over with, the new family are adjusting to their not-so-normal life. Arifa and her husband are prepared for the hard times ahead of them money wise, but say that they would never change a thing.