'Miracle' Boston Twins Born 24 Days Apart with Help of Rare Procedure

Thanks to a very rare procedure known as delayed twin delivery, 35-year-old Boston mom Lindalva Pinheiro da Silva is now safe with her twin boys.

When the new mother's water broke four months before her due date, she and husband Ronaldo Antunes quickly rushed to the Tufts Medical Center in Boston, Mass., where the mother-to-be was given a potassium sulfate injection to stop her premature contractions.Unfortunately, the medical treatment failed to calm da Silva's labor.

Enter first twin Alexander, who was born at just 1 pound, 10 ounces. Brother Ronaldo would not meet up with his sibling until 24 days later as da Silva's cervix closed shortly following his birth.

"I panicked," she said, according to ABC News. "He was crying, but he was very tiny and I was very scared. I said to my husband, 'He's too tiny.'"

In order to give the second child more time to grow and develop, doctors deliberately stopped da Silva's labor, placing the delivered child's umbilical cord and placenta insider her womb.

According to the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, this rare and lifesaving procedure, commonly known as delayed twin deliveries, is so uncommon, that just 14 cases over 12 years have been reported in about 96,922 delivers, based on reports from two large medical centers in Virginia and Tennessee.

As Alexandre remained in the neonatal unit, da Silva began to have contractions on March 26. Shortly following at 28 weeks and one day, twin brother Ronaldo was born at 6 pounds, 13 ounces. Both babies remain in the hospital and are growing stronger, each now at 6 pounds.