A baby with two heads has been born to a woman in India after she was too poor to have an ultrasound during her pregnancy.
Urmila Sharma, 28, gave birth to conjoined twins at Cygnus JK Hindu Hospital in Sonipat, Haryana, in northern India, yesterday morning.
The baby, born via C-section and weighing 7lbs 7oz, has two heads, two necks and two spines but only one body.
The baby girl, yet to be named, is under close observation in the neonatal intensive care unit, though doctors fear her chances of survival are slim.
Dr Shikha Malik delivered the baby and said: ‘The parents are very distressed and we are helping the family the best we can.’
Conjoined twins who share a single body have dicephalic parapagus – an extremely unusual form of conjoinment.
Because they share the same body, it is not possible to separate dicephalic parapagus twins.