Twins cheated death by hugging each other in the womb

Twins cheated a 50 per cent chance of strangling each other to death by hugging each other in the womb.

Nursery nurse Vicky Plowright, 30, was left stunned when she was told she was having twins and then deeply worried when it emerged they were sharing a single amniotic sac.

The 30-year-old from Surrey said: ‘I was with my sister, Georgina, and we were told the twins were monoamniotic, or Mo-Mo (Monoamniotic-Monochorionic), twins.

‘This is very rare, affecting between one in 35,000 and one in 60,000 twins in the UK, and means they shared one amniotic sac, instead of having one each.

‘I was devastated, as doctors explained it also meant the babies were at extremely high risk – around 50 per cent – of not surviving the pregnancy, because of their close proximity

‘They still had two umbilical cords, to deliver nourishment, which could become tangled, strangling them, which was so frightening to even imagine.’

But there was incredible news for Vicky and her partner Chris at the 12 week scan.

‘To our astonishment, at the 12-week scan, we saw that they were cuddling each other and holding hands,’ Vicky recalled.

‘They were keeping each other alive by staying still, so their umbilical cords didn’t get tangled.’

But on December 22nd with Ed Sheeran’s ‘Photographs’ playing in the background, Reuben arrived at 11.22am weighing 3lb 14oz, followed by his identical twin brother, Theo, just one minute later, weighing 3lb 7oz.

‘Both of them came out screaming and, most importantly, they were alive,’ Vicky recalled.

‘Chris was sobbing next to me, as well. We were just so happy that they’d made it.’