A Romanian woman has given birth to twin girls nearly two months apart, in what doctors described as a 'miracle'.
The 41-year-old woman gave birth to her first daughter in November 2014, but the other was born seven weeks later in January 2015.
This means though the babies are twins, they are born in two different calendar years, Romania Insider reports.
A mother, 41, gave birth to twins nearly two months apart, meaning they were born into two different calendar years. Her first daughter was born in November 2014 and her second in January 2015
The woman gave birth to her first baby prematurely at seven months, and doctors expected the second twin to come shortly afterwards. But her contractions stopped, and she carried her second daughter for another seven weeks. The baby girls (pictured) were born underweight and stayed in hospital until January 2015
The woman had carried both babies without any problems, but began having contractions prematurely at seven months.
She gave birth to her first child naturally, and doctors expected the birth of the second twin shortly afterwards.
But to their amazement, her contractions stopped.
Earlier scans had found the twins were in different embryo sacs and had separate placentas, as is often the case for non-identical twins.
So the doctors advised the woman to carry the second twin for longer so it could grow inside her womb.
Finally, the second twin was born in January 2015 by Caesarean section at the Cantancuzino hospital in Bucharest.
'It is extremely rare; I don't even know which medical mechanism stopped contractions for the second twin,' Dr Adrian Sorin Crăciun told Mediafax newswire.
'It was nothing short of God's miracle.'
Both babies were underweight at birth, with the first weighing slightly less than 2lbs (900g), and the second weighing 3lbs 3oz (1kg).
Both babies were underweight at birth, with the first weighing just 900 grams, and the second weighing 1 kg. By the beginning of February when they went home, they weighed 2.2 kg and 2.9 kg
They stayed in hospital until the end of January, weighing 4lbs 13oz (2.2 kg) and 6lbs 6oz (2.9 kg) by the time they went home.
Dr Leila Hanna, a consultant gynaecologist & obstetrician at BMI The Sloane Hospital, Kent, said this case was 'extremely rare and unusual'.
She told MailOnline: 'The majority of non-identical twins have different placentas. They are from two eggs with two embryo sacs and two placentas.
'But the fact that they were born seven weeks apart is highly unusual.
'Normally they come out days apart, not weeks.
'She must have been a bit dilated, had her first child but then contractions stopped, her cervix quietened down and she was not dilated enough to have the second child.
In 2013, MailOnline reported on the case of Maria Jones-Elliot, who gave birth to twin daughters Amy and Katie (pictured) three months apart - breaking a Guiness World Record in the process
'There is no cause for this, it is just an unusual case.
'She is lucky to have carried the second baby for longer so it could grow in her womb.
'These babies were underweight and so the risk of them needing respiratory care and neonatal support is high.
'In some countries the outcome is good for these babies, some countries don't have as good care.'
The news comes after MailOnline reported on the case of two twins born more than 12 weeks apart in Britain in 2013.
Maria Jones-Elliot, from Glenmore, County Kilkenny, went into labour four months early, giving birth to her first daughter Amy.
Amazingly, her second daughter, Katie, arrived nearly three months later.
Their birth became a Guinness World Record as the 'longest interval between the birth of twins'.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2947356/Mother-gives-birth-twin-girls-nearly-two-MONTHS-apart-contractions-stopped-child.html#ixzz3RSBnSqPR
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