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LONDON, Oct 30 (AFP) - A British woman beat odds of more than five million to one when she gave birth to twins from her two wombs, a British newspaper said Sunday.
Claire Miles, 35, born with a rare medical condition, has a pair of half-size wombs, making it extremely difficult to carry a baby successfully, the Sunday Mirror reported.
Miles is one of about 70 women in the world known to have been pregnant in two wombs since 1905 -- and one of only five such women in Britain in the past 50 years to give birth to babies which survived.
The twins, Noah Henry, fron Miles's right womb, and Masie Rose, from her left womb, were born by a caesarian section on June 8 and are fit and well.
"I thought I would never be a mother," Miles said.
"Now I have two miracles. I am full of every possible emotion. Life isn't about my two wombs now -- it's about my two babies."
Miles first discovered her condition when she was 20 after suffering severely painful menstruation.
Doctors also found she had two cervixes and two vaginas.
Aged 21, her vaginas were made into one but doctors decided it was too risky to alter her wombs.
Claire and husband David, 35, wedded thinking they had no chance of becoming parents. They were stunned to discover she was pregnant a month into their marriage.
"When they hooked me up to the machine, seeing one heartbeat was incredible. Then straight away there was another," Miles said.
"I thought, 'That can't be right, this can't be happening. I'm going to lose both of them. What if they ask me to chose one?'
"It went from joy to complete panic."
There was a 25 percent chance that one or both babies would have to be prematurely delivered because her small wombs could not stretch enough.
Miles started to have contractions in her right womb 31 weeks into her pregnancy.
Concerned over the babies' health, her consultant decided 33 weeks in that the twins should be born, weighing four pounds (1.8 kilogrammes) each.
Miles had to wait two days before holding her babies, which had been rushed to intensive care due to breathing difficulties.
"My first cuddle with Masie, it was amazing. She felt so relaxed.
"I felt every emotion there is possible -- joy, thankfulness, love -- it's the best feeling I have ever had."
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Britain-health-offbeat
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