Mother gives birth to two babies from her two wombs

A British woman has given birth to twins after discovering she had two wombs - and was carrying babies in both of them.

Experts say that most women with Jennifer Ashwood’s condition, known as a bicornuate uterus, carry one baby in one of their wombs. Ashwood, 31, previously gave birth to daughter Millie, now eight, without even learning that she had two wombs, reports the Daily Mail.

After falling pregnant again, she and her husband, Andrew, found out they were expecting twins in December. Doctors then discovered an abnormality, before revealing in February that Ashwood had two wombs, with one baby in each.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Fewer than 100 such cases have been recorded worldwide, and the odds of it happening are 500 million to one, says the newspaper.

The condition does not cause extra problems with conception but there is a slightly higher risk of miscarriage or premature birth.

Ashwood, from Camborne, Cornwall, went into labour at 34 weeks and gave birth to son Piran, 5lb 10oz, and daughter Poppy, 5lb 3oz, via caesarean.

The new mother said: “To have the two [wombs] is rare in itself, but to have an egg in both, then those to be fertilised, and then for both eggs to be in the right part... it’s a bit of a miracle. You think you know your body well, but it turns out you might not.

“Compared to my first pregnancy I was sick much, much more. Because it’s so rare to carry a baby in each [womb], they didn’t really quite know what was going to happen until they opened me up and took a look.”

She added: “It’s very, very busy at home now. We haven’t had much sleep but I don’t think we’d be having much even if we just had one. It’s double the cuddles and double the love.”