A 21-year-old Brazilian was stunned to discover she was pregnant with triplets at the time of delivering what she thought was twins.
Maria Jose da Silva Franca, from the city of Recife in the north-eastern Brazilian state of Pernambuco, spent her whole pregnancy believing she was going to give birth to twins.
However, after two infants came into the world, the young mum said she was stunned when a third started to arrive.
She said: “I was quite scared, I was expecting a girl and a boy. When they removed the placenta, I heard a doctor say ‘there is another one’ and there was a mad rush in the room, people couldn’t believe it.”
According to the news site UOL, the health centre where Maria Jose went for her prenatal care has investigated the oversight.
The centre’s head nurse Marinalva Amazonas said that any evidence of triplets was not picked up during examinations, adding that the young mother’s pregnancy would have been better monitored if she had not have missed appointments.
Amazonas said: “Two or three times, she stopped coming. In the ultrasounds, she showed twins, and we can only go by what the equipment registers.”
On 23rd March, Maria Jose went into labour and gave birth to two boys and a girl at Recife Women’s Hospital.
According to UOL, Maria Jose, who lives with her mother and sister, has a two-year-old son and will rely on financial help from loved ones to help her take care of her four children.
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Story By: Lee Bullen, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash
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