No decision yet on conjoined twins

A DECISION on whether to separate the conjoined twins born at Oshakati last month can only be made in three months’ time, a South African heart surgeon said yesterday.

Dr Johann Rossouw from the Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Cape Town flew to Windhoek on September 20 to examine the two girls, Monika Ngendinomuwa and Taimi Talohole. Dr Rossouw told The Namibian yesterday that the twins could not be separated yet, because they have heart problems known as “blue baby syndrome”.If the sisters are separated, one of them would definitely die in the process, because they share a heart.The Superintendent of the Onandjokwe Lutheran Hospital, Dr Fillemon Amaambo, who is also head of surgery at the Oshakati State Hospital, said the team of doctors dealing with the twins would have to take many factors into consideration when deciding on whether to separate them.”We cannot now say with any certainty whether they will be separated, it will depend on many factors to be considered within three months,” Dr Amaambo said.He would also not speculate on which one of the baby girls would have to be sacrificed to save her sister’s life.If the doctors decide to go ahead with a separation in three months’ time, they would decide which baby had the best chance of survival, he said.Dr Rossouw told The Namibian yesterday that the twins could not be separated yet, because they have heart problems known as “blue baby syndrome”.If the sisters are separated, one of them would definitely die in the process, because they share a heart.The Superintendent of the Onandjokwe Lutheran Hospital, Dr Fillemon Amaambo, who is also head of surgery at the Oshakati State Hospital, said the team of doctors dealing with the twins would have to take many factors into consideration when deciding on whether to separate them.”We cannot now say with any certainty whether they will be separated, it will depend on many factors to be considered within three months,” Dr Amaambo said.He would also not speculate on which one of the baby girls would have to be sacrificed to save her sister’s life.If the doctors decide to go ahead with a separation in three months’ time, they would decide which baby had the best chance of survival, he said.