When Kate Lucas was told that the twins she was pregnant with were monoamniotic (sharing the same amniotic fluid with no dividing membrane), she was also told that there was only a slim chance of them both being born healthy. In monoamniotic pregnancies of twins, the umbilical cords of the two fetuses will often become tangled and be cut off. Also, the fetuses frequently press against each other’s cords and cut them off that way.
In fact, there was at least a 50 percent chance of death or defects with one or both of the twins.
Lucas and her husband never gave up hope, however, and switched doctors to one that was more optimistic. Lucas was told to not prepare a nursery for the twins, however, since there was such a good chance that there would be a miscarriage. Even if the twins were born, experts warned, there was a high chance that one or both of them would have birth defects.
So, Lucas and her medical team were thrilled when she gave birth to healthy twin daughters. The girls are now eight years old and doing great. When they were born, their umbilical cords were entwined, but they suffered no ill effects. They are very close emotionally which is typical of monoamniotic twins. It is believed that monoamniotic twins, or “MoMo’s,” are even closer than other types of twins because of having so little between them before birth.