In US, a woman ended up giving birth to a set of rarest of rare ‘MoMo’ twins, an incident that has a mere 1% possibility.
Britney Alba, from the United States, gave birth to two sets of identical twins, known as MoMo twins, which are extremely rare and have a high risk of fetal complications. After being admitted to the High-Risk Obstetrics Unit at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) at 25 weeks pregnant, Alba stayed there for over 50 days before giving birth via caesarean section at 32 weeks.
The twins, Lydia and Lynlee Alba, were in the hospital’s newborn unit for months before being discharged on December 7, 2022. Although MoMo twins have a high rate of stillbirths associated with them, the team at UAB provided ongoing prenatal care and fetal monitoring to ensure the twins remained well, and the successful outcome was a tribute to Britney’s perseverance, according to Rachel Sinkey, an assistant professor in UAB’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
MoMo is an abbreviation for monoamniotic-monochorionic, which refers to a type of twin pregnancy where the twins share the same amniotic sac and placenta. This is an extremely rare type of twin pregnancy, accounting for less than 1% of all births in the United States.
The Facts of the Matter
A woman in Alabama, United States, has given birth to rare monoamniotic-monochorionic twins, also known as MoMo twins, which means the babies shared the same amniotic sac and placenta in their mother’s womb. This came just over a year after the mother gave birth to a set of identical twins, resulting in the family of two becoming a family of six in two years. The couple, Britney and Frankie Alba, have expressed their concerns regarding the high risk associated with MoMo twins.
Woman Spent 50 Days in Hospital to Avoid Pregnancy Complications
Britney spent around 50 days in the hospital to avoid any complications during the pregnancy. The couple traveled back and forth from Tuscaloosa and Birmingham to spend time with their identical twin babies, Luka and Levi, while Britney was under medical supervision in the hospital. Britney was aware of the complications that could arise during a MoMo pregnancy, which has a probability of occurrence ranging from 1 in 35,000 to 1 in 60,000 in the US.
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“Concern set in”: Britney Opens Up
“Concern set in. We realized it wasn’t just another set of twins, but a high-risk pregnancy,” Britney said during an interview with Fox19. The high risk associated with MoMo twins is related to stillbirth, miscarriage, cord entanglement, and fetal anomalies. At 24 weeks into the pregnancy, Britney checked herself into the hospital to remain under the medical supervision of doctors. Twin girls were delivered by C-section and kept in the NICU after birth for further monitoring.
“Didn’t seem real..”: Husband Gives Account of Rare Birth
“After all that time in the hospital, it didn’t seem real like it was actually going to happen. And then when it actually happened and we were all home, it was surreal,” Britney said. Meanwhile, her husband Frankie described the experience as extremely challenging but worth it for the entire family. “It was definitely a very challenging time in our lives and in our marriage, but it was definitely worth it. We love it, we love the time with our family, and we cherish every moment,” he added.
The MoMo twin girls, named Lydia and Lynlee by their parents, were discharged from the hospital and are now at home enjoying the company of their twin brothers, Levi and Luka.
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What Are MoMo Twins?
Momo twins (monochorionic-monoamniotic twins) are a rare type of identical twins that develop from a single fertilized egg that splits into two embryos, but they share the same placenta and amniotic sac. This means that the twins are very close to each other during gestation, and there is a higher risk of complications.
Momo twins are also referred to as “mono mono” twins, which is short for “monochorionic monoamniotic” twins. The term “momo” is derived from the first two letters of each word.
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