Woman gives birth naturally to twins born at exact same time

Watch: 'I had rare simultaneous twins - born at exactly the same time'

A mum has revealed how she gave birth to twins born at exactly the same time, which experts believe is an extremely rare phenomenon.

Described as 'simultaneous twins', Molly and Micky McLaren were both born naturally at 11:53am on April 27, with the time of their joint arrival confirmed on their birth certificates.

Diane McLaren, 33, and husband Daniel, from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, knew they were expecting two sets of tiny feet, but were shocked when both babies came out at the exact same time.

Midwives told Diane to give a big push when they spotted a head crowning, but as Micky emerged head first, so too did his twin sister Molly, feet first, like they were topping and tailing.

"They are the exact same age," the now mum-of-five says of her twins' unique arrival. "I thought Micky was stuck. I gave a massive push and there was a big whoosh.

"I thought I'd delivered my son, but the team were all huddled together and then the midwife said, 'Both the babies are here now.' I was a bit woozy and I said, 'What do you mean?'

"She said, 'You have delivered them both at once. The foot belonged to your daughter'. She had somehow managed to turn herself breach and her foot came out the exact same time as his head.

“The hospital said they have never had a birth like it."

Diane and husband Daniel, 34, lost a pregnancy in 2021 and were thrilled to discover they were expecting again, particularly when an early scan showed not just one healthy baby, but two.

"It was such a massive shock to be expecting two but we were so delighted," she explains. "We had been very nervous about the scan."

Also mum to Georgia, 10, Adam, nine, and Rory, three, Diane says she had a pretty uneventful pregnancy with the twins.

"The pregnancy itself was pretty great," she continues. "I had no sickness or swelling, just the usual heartburn and some pain in my hips towards the end."

Diane was induced at 37 weeks at University Hospital Wishaw, with Molly and Micky making their joint arrival after 12 hours of labour.

Molly weighed 5lb 4oz, while her brother came in at a slightly bigger 6lb 11oz.

The birth, Diane says, had been far more painful than she had experienced with her other children.

"I gave a big push because the midwife said she could see the boy's head crowning," Diane explains. "I was very frightened because they were talking about whether it was his hand or his foot over his head, and I couldn't understand why things didn't seem to be going as expected.

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"When they were born everyone got such a fright," Diane continues. "Poor Daniel said he just saw two babies flop onto the bed at once and thought the worst.

"Molly had a very bruised foot and leg right up to her knee, and Micky was completely black in colour from the neck up due to the position he had been stuck in with her foot pressed against him.

"But they were both absolutely fine."

Unsurprisingly, the twins unusual arrival, a first for the hospital, attracted lots of interest from medical staff.

"There were doctors and nurses coming from all over the hospital to meet the new famous twins because they had heard of how they entered the world and wanted to see them for themselves," Diane explains.

“I registered their birth a few weeks later and the registry office staff were really shocked.

"They had to contact the hospital for confirmation before they could put on their birth certificates that they were born at the same time."

Additional reporting SWNS.