A mum has shared her shock at finding out she had two wombs during a scan while she was pregnant with her second child.
Hayley Scudder, 34, from Stockport, Manchester, had never had any symptoms to suggest she had two wombs and sonographers hadn’t picked up anything unusual when she was pregnant with her first son, Logan, now 12. But during an internal scan when she was 12 weeks into her second pregnancy with her youngest child George, now seven, doctors discovered she had two wombs.
“Doctors were shocked,” Hayley says of the news. “They sent about 15 nurses and doctors in. It was like I was famous! They were all saying they hadn’t seen it before. Apparently it only impacts around one in a million. I call it limited edition! “
Hayley was told the rare condition, known as uterus didelphys, means she could have been pregnant at the same time, in each of her wombs. “I could have been pregnant with one baby in one womb and then could get pregnant in the second womb,” she says. “I’m glad that didn’t happen!”
The mum-of-two was also told that due to her condition it should have been “near impossible” for her to conceive without undergoing IVF. “I was very emotional for a long period of time after hearing that as I was so grateful,” she explains.
Hayley’s first child was born six weeks early with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. “I conceived Logan in the smaller womb and that’s why he was born prematurely as there was no room left for him,” she explains. “He was in NICU for four days but he went on to make a full recovery. Doctors said I shouldn’t have been allowed to give birth naturally, but we didn’t know about the second womb at this point.”
With her second son, George, Hayley says her pregnancy proceeded as normal until she began bleeding a few months in and an internal scan revealed her son was growing in one of her wombs. “They told me I would have likely have been born with two wombs,” she explains. “I didn’t believe them at first and had to Google it.”
During her labour with George, Hayley was told there was no one qualified to deliver her son naturally. “They told me if I gave birth naturally it could have broken his neck due to the limited space,” she explains. “So George was born by C-section.”
While many people with uterus didelphys, experience many side effects, including heavy periods, Hayley says her periods are always light. “Because there’s a wall in between in the two wombs doctors have offered to remove it to make one whole womb, but if it doesn’t affect my body then I don’t want to mess with it. I don’t think I’ll have any more children either. After hearing about all the complications I could have experienced I feel like I’m really lucky.”
One of the ways her condition does have an impact, however, is during a smear test. “I have to have more regular smear tests,” she explains. “And I have to have one in each cervix.” Doctors have also warned Hayley may also experience some further side effects when she gets older. “Apparently when it comes to me hitting menopause I’m going to really feel it,” she says. “Twice as bad!”
Uterus didelphys is a rare abnormality that develops when a baby girl is in her mother’s womb.
“The term describes a condition where a woman has a double uterus, double cervix and in some cases even two vaginas,” Dr Simran Deo, GP at Zava UK, previously told Yahoo UK. “Uterus didelphys occurs in the womb, and leaves a female foetus with two tubes, which usually fuse together to form a singular uterus.”
While women with uterus didelphys often don’t have any symptoms, which can make diagnosis tricky, some women experience heavy and painful periods and pain during sex. Some women may experience menstrual bleeding even after she’s inserted a tampon. This is because she has placed the tampon inside one of her vaginas but is still bleeding from the other vagina. Dr Deo says the condition is often only discovered during a pelvic examination, or during tests to investigate repeated miscarriages.
While some women can conceive and have children without complication, it may be harder for a woman with uterus didelphys to become pregnant. “The condition is considered to make women affected by high-risk pregnancy, as it is often associated with late miscarriage and also stillbirths,” Dr Deo continues. “If you are diagnosed with uterus didelphys and are planning for a baby you should discuss your options with your doctor before trying to conceive. Many women suffering with this condition can go on to have healthy babies, it may just take a little more planning and precaution.”
Surgery is possible to correct a double uterus, but it isn’t always needed. For women who have a double uterus but are experiencing no symptoms, like Hayley, there is no need to treat the condition. Some women with a double vagina and a double uterus could benefit from surgery to remove the dividing membrane in their vagina as this can make childbirth easier for them.
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