Woman With Double Uterus Birthed Daughter at 22 Weeks

A prematurely born baby who arrived at just 22 weeks in Lincoln, Nebraska has been called a miracle case.

Megan Phipps, 24, shared her powerful story with Good Morning America, having given birth in June to two baby girls, one of whom passed away less than two weeks after arrival. Phipps has a double uterus, a rarity that often leads to early births. The surviving baby is the youngest Bryan Health Hospital has ever welcomed.

Phipps has given birth to two other children and was aware of her double uterus, but doctors informed her the left side of her uterus wasn’t active. This time around, Phipps was rushed to the hospital while in “excruciating pain” after realizing she was pregnant on both her right and left sides. At the hospital,  doctors told her the babies had a mere 1 percent chance of living because her cervix was slowly shortening. A nurse then recognized that despite only being in her second trimester, Phipps was in the process of giving birth.

Phipps carried on with the delivery and gave birth to a girl named Riley on June 11, who died 12 days after arrival. Her daughter Reece came June 12. Both girls were born weighing less than one pound.

“I put [Riley’s] ashes in her new urn, and ever since then she stayed with me and Reece up in the NICU until the day that Reece got to come home with us,” Phipps told GMA. 

Megan wasn’t allowed to have extra visitors in the ICU due to the hospital’s COVID-19 protocols, so she developed a strong bond with the nursing staff. “Basically the only family I had was the nurses, doctors and nurse practitioners that were there helping my baby,” Phipps said.  “I just want mothers to know that just to not give up hope that anything is possible.”

Kallie Gertsch, the NICU nurse who cared for Reece and helped deliver her, called the baby’s birth “a true miracle.”