On way home to Swaziland
PRETORIA: The pair of formerly conjoined twins – Uwenzile and Uyihlelile Sihlongonyane – will this week make the trip back home to Swaziland after undergoing a successful, delicate separation procedure at the Netcare Unitas Hospital in Pretoria.
“The babies are currently discharged, and we will keep them here for another two days because of the logistics regarding the transport back to their home. We are just keeping them to ensure everything is fine when they go home,” said general manager, Robert Jordaan on Tuesday.
“We have an overnight facility where we have accommodated the parents, as we felt that it was critical for them to be close to the babies while they are here. They have stayed here for the entire period.
“It is fantastic to know that the babies are going to their home, and not into a primary care hospital.”
He said the “very special twin girls” had made significant progress and had been transferred from the paediatric intensive care unit into the paediatric ward over the weekend. The infants were prematurely born on January 2 – at 36 weeks – as conjoined twins, via caesarean section at the Good Shepherd Hospital in Siteki, Swaziland.
At birth they had a combined weight of 4.21kg.
The girls were joined at the lower abdomen but did not share any vital organs. This type of conjoined twins are known as omphalopagus twins.
The pair was admitted to the Netcare Unitas Hospital through the Swazi government’s Phalala Fund on January 15 – a few days ahead of the procedure to separate them.
Jordaan said Uwenzile and Uyihlelile had earned a special place in the hearts of the hospital staff, particularly the doctors involved in the twins’ care.
“Netcare Unitas Hospital has been deeply privileged to play a part in helping these beautiful, bright little girls to a happy, healthy future. This has been a significant milestone in the hospital’s history, as the first separation of conjoined twins undertaken at this hospital, he said.
The Sihlongonyane girls were born to 20-year-old Bongekile Simelane and her husband Mbongeni Sihlongonyane.
On February 2, the 20th birthday of the twins’ mother, the hospital held a special celebration for her and the infants.
The paediatric surgeon who led the separation procedure, Dr Mariza de Villiers, said the procedure on the one-monthold babies was fairly simple as they didn’t share vital organs.
“If you look just at the procedure, it was relatively simple because we didn’t have a lot to do. The finer detail was what was the problem. We had a large team of people, and everybody involved met beforehand to plan everything,” said Engelbrecht.