The Mauritanian sisters who were born conjoined at the abdomen are living a normal life in their country two years after being separated

Khadija and Cherive, the Mauritanian twins who were born in October 2023 joined at the abdomen, are now living a normal life in their country thanks to the separation surgery they underwent. The operation was carried out at SJD Barcelona Children's Hospital just over two years ago, thanks to the hospital's international cooperation programme, Cuida'm.

A care team from the Catalan hospital, comprising Ana Alarcón, Head of the Neonatology Department, and Patricia Romero, a neonatal nurse, has recently visited the girls at the hospital in Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania.

They are in good health, weigh 10 kilos and are left with only a scar on their abdomen as a reminder of the surgical intervention carried out by the SJD Hospital surgery team, led by Xavier Tarrado, two years and four months ago.

According to Ana Alarcón, "we have been able to assess the girls together with the team from the Mère et Enfant Hospital in Nouakchott and confirm their perfect state of health, with optimal growth and development". She adds: "both the medical team and the family are very pleased with their progress, and the parents have expressed their special gratitude for the welcome and treatment they received at SJD Hospital, which made them feel at home despite the distance".

The visit by the medical team from the Catalan centre to the Mauritanian capital also served to evaluate the operation of the collaboration programme that the consultancy Additum and SJD Barcelona Children's Hospital maintain with Mauritania's Ministries of Health and Digitalisation. The aim of this alliance is to improve access to the health system for more than 50% of the Mauritanian population by taking advantage of the opportunities offered by digital technologies and, in particular, artificial intelligence.

An intervention involving more than 20 professionals

The twins were born on 8 October 2023 in Mauritania joined together from the upper abdomen and with a single umbilical cord. Faced with the impossibility of separating them in their country of origin, the Mauritanian health authorities approached Sant Joan de Déu for advice through this international cooperation programme.

A week after the siamese girls' birth, the SJD medical team received images sent from Mauritania and assessed that the separation was feasible and could be carried out at the Barcelona centre. Khadija and Cherive travelled to the SJD Hospital and were treated thanks to the hospital's solidarity programme, Cuida'm.

The patients underwent surgery on 8 November 2023. The operation lasted five hours and involved around twenty professionals. A 3D-printed simulation had been carried out beforehand to ensure the success of such a complex surgical procedure. After the operation, Khadija and Cherive were transferred to the Intensive Care Unit, recovered quickly and were able to return to their country a few days later.

434 cases treated in the Cuida'm programme

Khadija and Cherive are two of the 434 children treated by the Cuida'm charitable programme at SJD Barcelona Children's Hospital since its inception in 2004. The aim of this initiative is to provide a medical and surgical treatment opportunity to underprivileged children from anywhere in the world who cannot find an alternative medical care option in their home countries.

The programme relies on a large number of donors who fund the costs of the surgeries, logistics and upkeep, as well as the support of the Hospital's clinical teams who, altruistically, operate on all these little patients.