Canadian twins born prematurely and who doctors said had no chance of surviving celebrated their first birthday, setting a new Guinness World Records record.
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The girl and boy, Adiah and Adrial, were born after 22 weeks of pregnancy on March 4, 2022, breaking previous records for the earliest birth for twins and the lightest twins at birth, as Adiah weighed 330 grams and Adrial 420 grams, according to a statement released Saturday.
Doctors then gave “no chance of survival” to the two little ones, the parents told Guinness, which lists world records.
“When I started having contractions, the hospital I was admitted to refused to keep the babies alive and practically left them for dead,” said their mother, Shakina Rajendram.
As she was on her second day of labour, doctors told parents that if the babies were born even minutes before their 22nd week they would not have received care, the Guinness World Record points out.
Most hospitals don’t try to save babies born before 24 to 26 weeks.
Despite bleeding heavily, the mum says she tried her best to ‘hold the babies’ for a few more hours when she was 21 weeks and six days pregnant.
Capture d’écran YouTube Guinness World Records
Her waters finally broke 15 minutes after midnight and less than two hours later “both twins were born and were successfully resuscitated”.
A photo published by Guinness shows the two one-year-old babies close to their world record certificate. Young Adiah looks surprised, her mouth wide open, her brother Adrial seems more pensive.
A portrait very different from that taken at birth, when the newborns were very thin and their skin transparent.
The twins had to remain hospitalized for six months and survived several complications, including a cerebral hemorrhage and sepsis.
Today, little Adiah has already gained at least 18 times the weight she had at birth, says her mother.
“She’s an extremely happy and social baby, and she smiles all the time,” adds Shakina Rajendram. “She is very talkative and can have ‘conversations’ with us and her toys for hours.”
Adrial had to return him twice to the emergency room following infections and respiratory problems, but his situation “is improving”, underlines his mother, who describes him as “observant, attentive and intelligent”.
The previous record was set in 2018 by twins from the US state of Iowa, born a day later than Adiah and Adrial.