Shafaq News – Kirkuk

On Sunday, a medical team at Iraq’s Kirkuk Maternity and Children Hospital successfully carried out the province’s first separation surgery for conjoined twins, a case the local health authority described as “extremely rare” for the country.

Director General of Kirkuk Health Directorate, Arjan Mohammed Rashid, told Shafaq News that the hospital received a four-day-old infant with a critical Siamese attachment after being urgently transferred from Kirkuk Teaching Hospital following the death of their sibling.

The team conducting the surgery, he explained, immediately stabilized the child and proceeded with an emergency operation that lasted about two hours. Surgeons separated the surviving infant from the deceased twin, repaired shared organs, fixed a large abdominal hernia, divided the fused sternum and common umbilical cord, and reconstructed the muscles and skin at the attachment site.

“The baby was then discharged in stable condition,” Rashid added.

On November 9, Kirkuk Teaching Hospital reported another rare birth of conjoined twins to a 28-year-old woman who underwent a C-section after indications of a complicated pregnancy. Medical examinations showed the infants were joined at the abdomen and chest, and both were initially admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit for observation.

Iraq’s health sector has struggled with damaged infrastructure, workforce shortages, and years of underinvestment following successive conflicts and sanctions, even as public hospitals slowly expand advanced services.