United News of Bangladesh

Three-month-old conjoined twin sisters from Daulatpur upazila of Kushtia died while undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on Wednesday. The babies, Zainab and Umme Kulsum, died around 5:30 pm while doctors were treating them at the hospital, according to their family. The twins were born at Bangladesh Medical University (BMU) on May 4 to Nahid Hasan, a shop employee, and his wife Sanjida Akter, residents of Bilgathua village under Pragpur Union in Daulatpur. The babies were joined from the chest to the abdomen. After their birth, doctors kept them under close observation and said they could potentially be separated through surgery. However, the procedure would require multiple tests, specialised medical teams and prolonged treatment. The family was advised to bring the babies back to Dhaka after three months for further treatment. But their severe financial hardship prevented them from continuing the treatment. The issue came to public attention after reports were published in the media, prompting the Prime Minister to intervene. Following the Prime Minister’s directive, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare took responsibility for covering all expenses related to the twins’ treatment and possible surgery. As part of the government’s initiative, Health Minister personally called the twins’ father on Sunday afternoon and advised him to bring the babies to Dhaka as soon as possible. With the government’s assurance of financial support, the family left for Dhaka on Monday morning and admitted the babies to Dhaka Medical College Hospital the same day. Doctors subsequently conducted several necessary medical examinations. However, despite the efforts of the medical team, the two babies died. “We had the support of the Prime Minister and the government, and the doctors were also trying their best. We came to Dhaka with hopes of giving our children a new life,” Nahid Hasan said. “But I could not take my two beautiful babies back home,” he said. The bodies were taken to their home in Daulatpur late Wednesday night. Following a janaza at 9 am Thursday, the twins were buried at a local graveyard. The deaths have cast a deep shadow of mourning over the area.

A baby boy with two heads died hours after being born at a private hospital in Jashore on Thursday. The baby -- actually conjoined twin brothers who shared a single body, two arms and two legs -- was delivered by Caesarean on Thursday afternoon. Both the mother, Muslima Akter, a resident of Natopara village in Jhenaidah upazila, and the baby were later shifted to Jashore General Hospital. However, the baby passed away within a couple of hours. Also read: Conjoined twins die 3 hrs after birth in Faridpur Faisal Ahmed a doctor at the children's ward of Jashore General Hospital, said the baby was brought to the district's premier medical facility around 7pm on Thursday. “As his condition deteriorated further, we referred him to a Dhaka hospital. But the baby breathed his last around 9pm before he could be shifted to the capital," he said. The baby’s grandmother, Sabina Begum, said that in the ninth month of Muslima's pregnancy, doctors at the private hospital told them that she was expecting twins after seeing her ultrasonography report. Also read: Woman gives birth to conjoined twins in Jashore