Doctors deliver healthy baby despite death of co-twin months ago

Indore: A team of medical specialists at government-run Prakash Chand Sethi Hospital successfully managed a highly complex pregnancy, delivering a healthy infant weighing 3.75 kg despite the intrauterine demise of its co-twin months earlier.

Both the 37-year-old mother and the newborn are reported to be in stable condition.

The patient, who had previously been undergoing treatment at a private medical facility, came to government hospital in active labour at full term. Clinical evaluations and past medical records showed a twin gestation with a severe complication: one of the foetuses had died during the fifth month of pregnancy.

The clinical risk was significantly heightened because the twins shared a single amniotic sac (monoamniotic gestation). Despite the prolonged presence of the deceased foetus within the same gestational sac, the surviving infant did not contract any intrauterine infections.

The medical team—comprising gynaecologist Dr Komal Vijayvargiya, anaesthesiologists Dr Sunita Bhatnagar and Dr Swati, paediatrician Dr Divyabh Gehlot, and nursing staff Rekha and Preeti—performed an immediate emergency Caesarean section.

The deceased foetus, which had undergone a rare biological process turning it into a paper-thin structure, was safely removed alongside the healthy newborn.

Chief medical and health officer (CMHO) Dr Madhav Prasad Hasani commended the clinical team for their precise execution of the high-risk surgery. “This delivery represents a rare and high-stakes scenario in obstetrics due to two primary conditions: a shared gestational sac and the condition known as Foetus Papyraceus,” Dr Hasani said.

“Retaining a deceased foetus in utero for four months usually exposes the mother and the surviving twin to tissue degradation products. This can trigger systemic infections or Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation, a life-threatening blood-clotting disorder,” he said.

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What is Foetus Papyraceus?

It is a recognized medical condition where a deceased baby’s body changes into a ‘paper-like structure.’ When a twin dies in the second trimester of a multiple pregnancy, the surviving twin and the expanding placenta exert continuous mechanical pressure on the dead foetus. Over weeks and months, the amniotic fluid surrounding the deceased foetus is resorbed, causing the soft tissues to dehydrate and the bones to flatten out.

The dead tissue becomes completely compressed, mummified, and flattened against the uterine wall or the surviving twin’s membranes. This natural preservation isolates the necrotic tissue, preventing intrauterine sepsis and allowing the remaining twin to grow to a healthy birth weight without developing developmental or infectious complications.