Baby born with two heads, three hands and two hearts after mum told to expect twins

Baby born with two heads, three hands and two hearts after mum told to expect twins

Doctors say they are not planning surgery after Shaheen Khan gave birth to her child, who was born with a condition known as dicephalic parapagus - where two infants are joined by one torso

 A baby shocked doctors and his mum after arriving with two heads, three hands and two hearts.

 Shaheen Khan was told she would be having twins when she fell pregnant with her first baby in Ratlam, in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

The condition known as dicephalic parapagus - where two infants are joined by one torso - was undetected before the birth.

It often results in a stillbirth but after surviving, doctors said on Tuesday they are not planning surgery.

The miracle baby has been admitted to a hospital in the nearby city of Indore to be monitored by medics.

The parents in Madhya Prades, India, were expecting twins

Rareshot News / SWNS)

Mum Shaheen remains in the district hospital in Ratlam.

It is unclear from reports if the arrival is being treated as conjoined twins or one child. Local reports describe it as a baby, but the condition is considered a rare form of partial twinning.

One of the doctors, Dr. Lahoti, said: "These kinds of cases are rare and the condition of babies remains uncertain, especially in the initial days.image

The doctors had told the parents that they have twins after conducting an ultrasound but were not aware of this condition.

The third hand is towards the back between the two faces.

In 2018, a baby born with two heads has survived an operation to amputate the second head.

Sana Hilel, from Aleppo, Syria, had her seventh child, Abdullatif Shekrak, by Caesarean section after cranium bifidum was detected in the womb

The X-ray of the baby, who has yet to be given a name

Facing death, the baby was quickly transferred to Iskenderun Developmental Hospital where a brain, nerve and spinal surgery specialist removed the second head.

Dr Mehmet Koparan, who performed the surgery, said a case this severe would often have been fatal.

"In general, encephalocele (cranium bifidum) is seen in one in 5,000 live births," he said.

"Grades three and four are less common, and often deadly. This case is grade three."