SISTERS Amanda and Helena love to do everything together. They live on the same street, they trained as hairdressers together, and they go out partying together.

But even they could not have guessed they would both have baby boys on the same day, in the same hospital, within hours of each other!

"It was perfect timing," grinned Helena MacMaster. "Everyone thinks we must have planned it!"

Helena, 26, had baby Josh at 1.45pm on January 18, and at 9.20pm that evening Amanda Stanulis, 21, gave birth to Harrison in the same delivery suite - on the same ward - at the Southern General.

The sisters' mum Caroline MacMaster joked: "I didn't know who to go and see first!

"The girls had different due dates - Helena was the 17th and Amanda was the 19th, but they obviously decided it would be easier just to do it all on the same day..."

Helena explained: "We'd both been texting each other all through the pregnancies, but at about five o'clock in the morning on the Saturday, we both started to get pains that we thought might be contractions starting.

"We hung on for a bit, and then decided to go to the hospital. The staff were great, and after the boys were born they put us in a room together, which was really nice."

Amanda and Helena are great friends now, but it has not always been the case, according to their mum.

"They fought like cat and dog when they were young," smiled Caroline, 46, who lives just round the corner from her daughters in Carnwadric.

"They are very different - Amanda is a bit wilder than Helena, who is quieter than her sister.

"But now they do everything together. They still plan to go out clubbing together - as long as nana babysits!"

Helena already has two children - Sean, six, and four-year-old Abbie - while Amanda and her husband Thomas have one other son, Lennon, who is three.

"The kids are all really excited about having new brothers," adds Caroline. "At the moment, the boys are nothing like each other.

"Harrison is a chubby thing and Josh is longer and lankier. But it's nice that they will be able to grow up together."

SISTER ACTS LOVE them or loathe them, if there's one girl you can't escape it's your sister. We've rounded up five of the most famous sister acts... MARY-KATE AND ASHLEY OLSEN: The 22-year-old American twins have effectively been business partners since they were just six-months-old, when they appeared on American TV show Full House. They have now had their own successful show, a cosmetics line and children's clothing brand. Their newest venture is a luxury fashion brand - proving that two heads are better than one. VENUS AND SERENA WILLIAMS: A double act on the tennis court, the talented American twosome have secured their place in history by playing against each other at Wimbledon. That's sibling rivalry at its best. SIENNA AND SAVANNAH MILLER: When these two decided to launch a fashion line in 2007 they must have known they were on to a winner. Back then Londoner Sienna's trendy boho style was at the centre of many a woman's fantasy wardrobe, while Savannah was quietly designing her knitwear collection. Put the two together and you get Twenty8Twelve, a luxury clothing brand perfect for those looking to emulate Sienna's distinctive look. PENELOPE AND MONICA CRUZ: While Penelope may be better known in Hollywood movies, her sister Monica has also carved out a successful acting career in Spain. Together they reinforced the trend for sisterly fashion collaborations when high street favourite Mango asked them to design a collection. KYLIE AND DANNII MINOGUE: There's no fashion collection here but the Aussie sisters aren't short of talent when it comes to singing. Kylie may hold the title as the Queen of Pop but Dannii has become a household name as a judge on TV's X Factor.