-readmitted to hospital
A two-month-old baby girl, who was reportedly born with two additional features connected to the head, was readmitted to the Georgetown Public Hospital last week after her parents complained of the child suffering several complications.
The child was born with what hospital sources described to Stabroek News as “two additional heads” and has been a patient of the Paediatric Ward of the GPHC since being admitted last week. The child has a normal head with facial features but the two additional ‘heads’ do not have any facial features except for strands of hair. Stabroek News understands that the child was readmitted to the hospital with several complications affecting key faculties, including her heart and lungs. The child cannot be breastfed by her mother and is being fed through a tube with liquid-type food. A medical source at the institution told this newspaper that the child may not live a full year. She said that in her 20 years of being in the medical profession, she cannot recall such an occurrence.
When contacted for a comment last evening, CEO of the hospital Michael Khan told Stabroek News that he was unaware of the child and her condition. He promised to make enquiries at the Paediatrics Department of the hospital for an update.
There have been several reports around the world of babies being delivered with two heads but this newspaper only found one reported case of a child being delivered with three heads. Recently, there was a case in Bangladesh, according to the Herald Sun of Australia, of a child delivered with two heads last August. Thousands of curious persons had flocked the hospital where the child was being kept under medical watch.
China Daily had reported a similar case in August 2006 in which a baby girl was born with two heads. The infants in both cases were delivered with full facial features on both heads.
There have also been recorded cases of babies being delivered with additional features, which turned out to be tumours. According to a source at the GPH, persons had speculated that the two features may be tumours but other medical personnel reasoned that the infant would not have lived this long if the features are indeed tumours.
According to the child’s mother, persons, including operatives from one media house, have been making attempts to take photographs of the infant. Curtains have since been placed around the infant’s bed, barring members of the public from viewing the child.