Survival hopes of joined twins ‘high’

The conjoined twin girls born to a Shropshire teenager stand a very good chance of surviving a separation, experts said today.

Hope and Faith, the daughters of Aled and Laura Williams, of Harlescott, Shrewsbury, were born by Caesarean section on Wednesday at London’s University Hospital. It is believed the babies have now been transferred to Great Ormond Street Hospital to prepare for the operation that will separate them.

Professor James Walker, a spokesman for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said doctors may well be carrying out more tests which would help them during the operation.

He said the birth would have been more problematic for mum Laura due to the fact that the twins were joined.

He said: “The main difference is the babies are joined together so there was a physical problem in them getting out.”Professor Walker said problems can arise after birth with conjoined twins if doctors are unable to access their airway but that other than that they are treated in much the same way as other newborns.

He said Laura and Aled’s twins are on the good end of the scale in that it appears no organs are shared.

“The less sharing there is the better it is and the easier it is to separate them, the reason for that is that they are basically two separate babies,” he added.

“Separating them will see little damage done to them. This case, it would appear, seems to be one of the better ones.”

Professor Walker said as long as the babies are well and stable doctors may wait days or even weeks before carrying out the operation as their organs will still be developing shortly after birth.

“They then can cope with operations and anaesthetic, and they may also want to do further testing to see how the babies are joined to give them more information when they do the operation to separate them,” he said.