Twin Delivered by Caesarean Dies : Was Separated From His Brother in Unusual Operation

A 1-pound, 2-ounce boy, who was delivered during a Caesarean section while his twin brother was left in their mother’s womb, died early Sunday morning, according to officials of Northridge Hospital Medical Center.

The cause of tiny Daniel Allen Moller’s death has not been determined, according to a nursing supervisor. The baby’s mother, Patricia Moller, 30, of Valencia, was said to be in stable condition. David Adam, the baby who was left in the mother’s uterus, is responding to treatment and is in good condition, the nursing supervisor said.

The procedure of delivering one distressed twin and leaving the other in the womb is “not experimental, but it is unusual because we don’t find that many opportunities to use it,” said Dr. Keith P. Russell, an obstetrician affiliated with USC and California Hospital. “It is always a judgment decision. Sooner or later one or both of them might have died in the uterus.”

The babies’ father, Randy Moller, said in a statement read by hospital officials that he wanted to focus on “the positive aspects” of the rare operation, which he termed “successful.”

“The baby’s death was unrelated to the surgery,” Moller said in his statement.

The unusual delivery occurred on Friday, about two weeks after Patricia Moller, who was six-months pregnant, had been admitted to the hospital. The expectant mother had been experiencing mild contractions and was having difficulty eating, sleeping and breathing, according to Dr. Kahlil Tabsh, director of Northridge’s high-risk obstetrics department.

An ultrasound picture of the fetuses showed that David was about twice the size of Daniel. According to the hospital, Daniel had started bleeding into his brother through a shared placenta. The infusion of his brother’s blood had made David swell and forced his heart to pump harder than necessary.

The deteriorating condition of the babies forced Tabsh to deliver one of the infants 13 weeks before full term, said a spokesman for the hospital. The decision to deliver Daniel was made because David would have had an even slimmer chance of survival than his brother.

Hospital officials said Sunday that ultrasound pictures of David showed that some of the swelling has diminished, and the fluid in his stomach has somewhat decreased.