A Liverpool couple were speechless after their twin son's rare birth which "hasn't been seen in ten years."
Mum-of-three Kirstie Jennings, 29, gave birth to her twin boys on Wednesday, January 24 in the Liverpool Women's Hospital, with partner Theodore Cleary was born at 9.42am, with twin brother Oliver Jude Cleary arriving minutes later at 9.49am.
Martyn, from Walton, said he "never thought they were going to have twins" when Kirstie first found out she was pregnant, but that already the boys "keep surprising them." Jacob was born weighing 5lbs 2oz, but when Oliver, who was 7lbs 11oz, was delivered, Martyn said it was a rare moment for the family and the team delivering the twins.
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Martyn, 32, told the ECHO: "It was a planned C- section, obviously because it was twins we didn't go full term. We arrived at 7.30am and got taken in first because they needed two midwives on hand to be able to deliver them.
"The team there were absolutely amazing as well. They made Kirstie feel dead comfortable and relaxed – they were playing music and dancing and stuff – it was a great experience all round.
"Jacob was born 5lbs 2oz, so there was a little bit of a worry about him, but he seems to be doing fine now. Oliver, he came out in the sack and everyone was absolutely amazed by it." The birth, known as an en caul birth is sometimes referred to as a 'mermaid birth' and is said to happen roughly every one in 80,000 births.
Martyn said he briefly knew about how unique the birth was, after reading a previous story in the Liverpool ECHO. He said: "When he came out it was just surreal.
"You could see his face, his hands and he was just there floating in a little sack. It was crazy that they took the time to show us and tell us how amazing it is.
"It’s such a rare thing to happen. We were speechless – I don't know how else to describe it.
"They call it a mermaid baby. I was the one who said it when he was first coming out. The surgeon said he’s coming out in the sack and I said oh it's a mermaid baby and he said yeah that’s what they call it.
"I was obviously pleased as punch to be the one to say it. Looking into it it is very rare, even the surgeon said it's been ten years since he’s seen one of them."
Kirstie and Martyn found out the gender of their twins in advance as they wanted to be as prepared as possible when their family-of-three became a family-of-five. Martyn said big sister Cecilia is "really excited" to meet her baby brothers and that the twins and Kirstie are all doing really well.
And if Oliver's mermaid birth wasn't unique enough, the twins' delivery could also be even rarer. Martyn said: "We found out yesterday evening that there’s a high chance they’re going to be identical twins as well.
"When they were doing the scans, it was scanned as being two placentas. But when they took it out, there’s only been one.
"It’s only after their birth they realised and they came up to us on the ward and said they're sending it off, but the chances are they're identical. They say if they have separate sacks then they're not going to be identical but because they shared a placenta the chances are they could be. But we're not going to know until we get the placenta results back."
The birth of the twins was caught on camera and Martyn said it will now be used for training purposes at the hospital as it is such a rare occurrence. He said: "My mum has been crying, she's just amazed by it.
"My dad is over the moon that we’re carrying on the Cleary name. I've got three sisters and a brother and none of them have had boys so he's made up about that. Kirstie's family are over the moon as well, they’re itching to come down and see them."
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