A mother who gave birth to twins was only given back one baby – and has demanded to know where the sibling has gone.
Kathelen Tavares was already a mother to twins and was delighted when during routine scans she then discovered she was again pregnant with two children. However when she gave birth she only heard one baby crying and was told there was no second child.
Because she gave birth a day before she was scheduled to have the children she had no family present at the time to see what happened – but remains adamant she had two children.
Kathelen, who gave birth at the Mariska Ribeiro Municipal Hospital in Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil, last Friday, said: “They put me in the operating room, they told me to separate two sets of clothes for two babies. I was given anaesthesia, I lay down, I heard one crying, and they put it on top of me.
“Then they said there was no other baby. They didn’t tell me anything else.”
Medical reports gathered more than 10 appointments reportedly confirmed there were two foetuses and both appeared to be healthy. There were also two heartbeats in an ultrasound scan from December last year, according to reports.
The family have reported the case to the police, who have opened an investigation into the unusual situation. Requested documents from the hospital as well as images from security cameras.
The hospital director has been summoned by the police to give a statement. Rio’s city hall said a caesarean section confirmed there were no twins and the birth was monitored by the medical and nursing team.
According to the city hall, Kathleen only had one placenta and one umbilical cord. The hospital management also said obstetricians investigated and found no sign or trace of other foetuses.
The municipality also reported the patient was informed in all consultations two foetal heartbeats could correspond to the sounds of the same foetus in two different points of the pregnant woman’s abdomen.
The city government ended the statement by stating there were no complications during the birth and the young woman was welcomed and assisted by the hospital staff.
Brazilian police are investigating.
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