Roselle mom brings home healthy twin girls after high-risk pregnancy
The identical twins were safely delivered at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in May at 32 weeks.
More Stories
A first-time mother is back home with her twin baby girls after surviving an extremely rare and high-risk pregnancy and delivery at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center.
Shedeline Pierre Louis, a 22-year-old from Roselle, experienced a Monochorionic-Monoamniotic (MoMo) pregnancy, a rare condition in which twins share both a placenta and a single amniotic sac.
MoMo twins occur in approximately 0.01% of pregnancies, creating significant risks, including preterm labor, growth restriction and umbilical cord entanglement that can threaten the lives of one or both babies, according to RWJBarnabas Health.
Despite those challenges, the twins were safely delivered on May 26 at 32 weeks under the care of Dr. Alexander Juusela and the Maternal-Fetal Medicine team at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center.
The identical twins received specialized care in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) immediately after birth.
"MoMo pregnancies require careful monitoring and highly coordinated care because of the significant risks involved," Juusela said. "Seeing these babies reach this milestone is incredibly rewarding and reflects the expertise and dedication of our Maternal-Fetal Medicine, labor and delivery, and NICU teams, who worked together every step of the way to support this family."
The milestone was celebrated with a special hospital-wide clap-out honoring the resilience of the babies and the dedication of the family and care team.
"When I learned about the risks associated with my pregnancy, I was scared and overwhelmed," Louis said. "The team at Newark Beth Israel supported me through every step of the journey and treated us like family. Seeing my babies healthy and finally being able to bring them home is more than I could have hoped for."
