Miracle surgery - Indian baby born with extra head attached to her stomach gets new lease of life (Pic inside)

New Delhi: In yet another case of medical miracle, surgeons in India have been able to give a new lease of life to a baby born with an additional head attached to her stomach.

As per reports, the baby girl, who was born via a caesarean section at Ram Snehi Hospital in Rajasthan, also had a third hand.

However, doctors at JK Lone Hospital, in Jaipur, successfully removed the appendage of her parasitic twin in a complicated four-hour surgery.

During the surgery, which took place on April 26, doctors also removed the extra head, which had no ears and eyes due to being partly developed.

The infant's mother, 21, presented herself at Ram Snehi Hospital after experiencing pain during her pregnancy.

Test results, including a sonography scan and others, revealed that the woman was carrying twins, but doctors were unaware they would be parasitic.

The baby's parents who do not want to be identified thought they would lose their first child.

Following the successful surgery, the were relieved as now both mother and the child are safe.

“The parents told us the mother had undergone sonography and other tests but were not told about carrying an underdeveloped twin,” Dr Pravin Marthur, professor and head of paediatric surgery at the hospital, said.

According to Dr Pravin Marthur, this is one of the rarest cases of parasitic twin.

“They were shattered when they saw the baby. We had to convince them to give us a nod for the surgery to save their daughter's life. After immediate consultation with a team of radiologist and support from assistant professors, we successfully removed the head from the viable child,” he added.

It is said that the baby was treated free of cost as the hospital did not charge the family for any health or surgery costs.

The baby is recovering and is being breastfed. She is expected to be discharged from the hospital later this week.

What are parasitic twins?

Unlike conjoined twins, in the case of parasitic twins, one is incompletely formed or wholly dependent on the body functions of the complete fetus. The independent twin is called the autosite.

Parasitic twins occur when a twin embryo begins developing in utero, but the pair does not fully separate, and one embryo maintains dominant development at the expense of the other.