5 baby born at the same time
South African woman gives birth to 10 babies in Pretoria - reports
Published
Update 23 June 2021: The Gauteng Provincial government has since released a statement saying medical tests show that Gosiame Sithole had not given birth recently, and nor had she been pregnant.
Image source, African News Agency (ANA)
Image caption,Gosiame Thamara Sithole, pictured here a month ago, gave birth on Monday
A South African woman has reportedly given birth to 10 babies in what would be a new world record.
Gosiame Thamara Sithole's husband says they were astonished by decuplets after scans only showed eight in the womb.
"It's seven boys and three girls. I am happy. I am emotional. I can't talk much," her husband Teboho Tsotetsi told Pretoria News after the birth.
One South African official confirmed the births to the BBC, however another said they were yet to see the babies.
A family member, who did not want to be identified, told the BBC that Ms Sithole had had 10 babies - five via natural birth and 5 via caesarean section.
Guinness World Records told the BBC it was investigating Ms Sithole's case.
A woman who had eight babies in the US in 2009 currently holds the Guinness World Record for the most children delivered at a single birth to survive.
Last month, 25-year-old Halima Cissé from Mali gave birth to nine babies, who are reportedly doing well at a clinic in Morocco.
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Most pregnancies involving large numbers of babies end prematurely, says BBC Africa's health reporter Rhoda Odhiambo.
Multiple births involving more than three babies are rare and often the result of fertility treatments - but in this case the couple say they conceived naturally.
Prayers and sleepless nights
Ms Sithole, 37, previously gave birth to twins, who are now six years old.
She is said to be in good health after delivering 29 weeks into her pregnancy in Pretoria on Monday evening.
Speaking to Pretoria News a month ago, Ms Sithole said her pregnancy was "tough at the beginning" and she had prayed for a healthy birth, with many a sleepless night worrying about what was to come.
"How would they fit in the womb? Would they survive?" she asked herself, but was reassured by doctors that her womb was expanding.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,Most pregnancies involving large numbers of babies end prematurely
When it was thought she was carrying eight foetuses, Ms Sithole was suffering leg pains and doctors found that two of the eight "were in the wrong tube".
"That was sorted and I have been okay since then. I can't wait for my children," she told the newspaper at the time.
Her husband also said he was over the moon, and felt like "one of God's chosen children. It's a miracle which I appreciate".
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Media caption,Nigeria's twin town: Igbo-Ora has an unusually high birth rate of twins
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Multiple birth - triplets or more
Multiple birth - triplets or more | Pregnancy Birth and Baby beginning of content5-minute read
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If you are pregnant with triplets or more, the birth will need careful planning.
The main risk with carrying multiples is that they will be born prematurely. Your medical team will help you plan your babies' birth. This may include deciding where and when your babies will be born.
Planning for your multiple birth
When you are pregnant with triplets or more, it is important to plan the birth. Your medical team will consider the risks of premature birth. They will weigh this against the risks of continuing the pregnancy for both you and your babies, based on your individual situation.
Generally, the longer your babies can stay in your uterus, the better. But when you are pregnant with triplets or more, complications can often develop. This can often mean that it's better for you and your babies if they are born early.
A normal pregnancy lasts 40 weeks. The average length of a pregnancy for triplets is 32 weeks. For quadruplets, the average length is 30 weeks.
Continuing a multiple pregnancy past 36 weeks can be risky for you and your babies. So, it's usually considered best to deliver them early.
When deciding when and how the babies should be born, your doctor will consider different factors. Your medical team will think about:
- the position of each baby
- the weight of each baby
- your health
- the babies’ health
A caesarean section is usually considered safest when there are 3 or more babies.
Giving birth to triplets or more vaginally is very rare. It is not recommended because of the higher risk of labour complications and infant mortality.
Since almost all triplets or more will be born prematurely, they will need special care. This may include a stay in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
It’s important to plan to have the birth in a hospital with all the facilities that you and your babies will need.
Caesarean section
A caesarean section is usually the safest option when you are carrying 3 or more babies. This may be because of:
- the position of the babies
- the position of the placenta (or placentas)
- the risk of one of the placentas or umbilical cords being compressed during a vaginal birth
- the risk of the babies becoming entangled during a vaginal birth
If you are carrying triplets or more, you will usually be offered a planned caesarean.
If your babies are going to be born early (preterm), your doctor may recommend giving you steroid injections. The injections are given to you before the birth.
Steroids can help develop your babies’ lungs. This can help them breathe more easily after birth. Steroids can also reduce the risk of other problems in babies born preterm.
Multiple babies and preterm labour
If you are expecting multiple babies and you go into labour, contact your doctor or midwife and go to your local hospital emergency department. The signs and symptoms of labour are the same as with normal labour. These include:
- contractions
- sudden breaking of the waters
- a ‘show’
During pregnancy, a plug of mucus seals the cervix. A 'show' is when the plug comes away and out of the vagina.
Women who are pregnant with multiple babies may go into labour naturally before 35 weeks. This happens in around 3 out of 4 cases.
Contact your medical team immediately if you have any signs of preterm labour. It may be possible to slow down or stop the labour. You will most likely be admitted to hospital.
If you go into labour spontaneously, you will likely be given a caesarean after you arrive at hospital.
Babies born before 34 weeks may need help with breathing, feeding and keeping warm. They are at greater risk of complications than babies born at full term.
The neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is specialised to care for premature and sick newborn babies. This unit has experienced medical staff and equipment.
When your babies no longer need this high level of care, they may be transferred. They may then spend time in the special care nursery or special care baby unit.
Resources and support
If you are preparing for a multiple birth, there are different organisations you can turn to for information.
The Australian Multiple Birth Association can provide support and resources for families expecting multiple babies.
The Royal Women's Hospital Melbourne offers online education for those expecting a multiple birth.
The Australian Breastfeeding Association can provide information on breastfeeding multiple babies, and link you to services such as lactation consultants.
Speak to a maternal child health nurse
Call Pregnancy, Birth and Baby to speak to a maternal child health nurse on 1800 882 436 or video call. Available 7am to midnight (AET), 7 days a week.
Sources:
Twin Research Australia (Multiple Perspectives: What support do multiple birth families need to live happy and healthy lives?), Australian Multiple Birth Association (What to expect when you're expecting multiples), Queensland Health (Steroids in pregnancy), Government of Western Australia (Multiple Pregnancy)Learn more here about the development and quality assurance of healthdirect content.
Last reviewed: June 2022
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90,000 the largest number of simultaneously born twinsFresh number
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Fresh number 9000. 01.2014 16:32 9000
On January 10, 1974, Sue Rosenkowitz gave birth to six twins in Cape Town, and for the first time all of the newborns survived.
But this, as they say, is not the limit. A greater number of twins have been born and are being born in the world. What is the largest number of children born at the same time?
Gears
In October 2008, 31-year-old Digna Carpio from New York gave birth to six twins - four boys and two girls. The weight of babies at birth ranged from 0.68 to 0.9 kilograms. The happy mother and her husband, 36-year-old Victor, already had a seven-year-old son at that time.
The birth of six twins is an extremely rare occurrence, occurring in one case in 4.4 million people. Only once before in New York were born six babies at once. It happened at 1997 year.
In October 2010 in the Italian city of Benevento, near Naples, 30-year-old Carmela Oliva had six children - four girls and two boys. In Italy, this was the first such case in the last 14 years.
To help the babies to be born, doctors were forced to resort to caesarean section. Children were born with low weight - from 600 to 800 grams. According to doctors, this phenomenon is not associated with artificial insemination, but with the treatment that the mother underwent - the fact is that Italian laws prohibit transplanting more than three embryos.
Setuples
Bobbie McCaughey (USA) gave birth to 7 children on November 19, 1997. They weighed between 1048 and 1474 grams and were born at 31 weeks pregnant within 16 minutes by caesarean section.
7 twins were born 8 weeks prematurely - on January 14, 1998 - to 40-year-old Hasna Mohammed Humair (Saudi Arabia). Among them, 4 boys and 3 girls, the smallest weighed 907 grams.
In August 2008, in the northern Egyptian province of Beheira, the 27-year-old wife of a local farmer, Ghazalu Khamis, gave birth to seven twins at once! As it turned out, the Egyptian dreamed of giving her husband a son and was taking pregnancy-stimulating drugs. The result is four sons and three daughters.
Ghazala Khamis was placed under observation two months before the birth: the development of twins in the mother's womb did not cause concern - the doctors were only worried about the increasing pressure on the kidneys. After a caesarean section, the woman in labor also underwent a blood transfusion. But all the crumbs were born healthy and quite large - from 1.4 to 2.8 kg, which in itself is a mystery of nature.
Octopuses
On January 26, 2009, 33-year-old Nadia Suleman gave birth to eight twins, and all of them were healthy.
The mother of the newborn eight was then living with her other children and parents in the suburbs of Los Angeles - in the small town of Whittier. The family already grew up six kids aged two to seven years, among whom there is a pair of twins.
The children's grandmother left her job and devoted herself to her daughter's family. And grandfather, to help Nadia, went to Iraq to work under a contract. Nadia herself claimed that she decided to take this step because of her own childhood, in which she missed her brothers and sisters so much. In addition, the eccentric American said that she was following the example of her idol, the large Angelina Jolie. A few years ago, Suleman even had plastic surgery to look like an actress.
Eight was conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF). Doctors in such cases insist on the reduction (removal) of a part of the embryos. After all, such a number of them can adversely affect both the health of the mother and the health of future children.
But the Californian, having enlisted the support of her large family, refused the reduction. A single mother divorced her husband a long time ago precisely because they could not have children together.
Delivery by caesarean section was nine weeks premature. A team of 46 doctors who took birth was expecting the birth of seven babies, which, although not often, does happen. However, there were eight newborns - six boys and two girls - and they are all quite healthy. Baby weight - from 700 g to 1.9kg. Seven of them immediately breathed on their own and were bottle fed. The whole family was discharged from the maternity hospital home in just a week.
From 10 and more
There is information about the birth of ten twins at once. Such cases were recorded in Spain in 1924, in China in 1936 and in Brazil in 1946. But this is not the limit.
Eleven children at once - that's the largest number of twins known. The first birth of 11 twins occurred on 29May 1971 in the USA, in the city of Philadelphia. The second - in 1977 in Bangladesh, in the city of Bagarhat. In both cases, none of the children, unfortunately, survived.
In addition
The largest number of children born to one mother
The largest number of children born to one mother, according to official data, is 69. The wife of a Russian peasant Fyodor Vasiliev gave birth 27 times, giving birth to twins 16 times, triplets 7 times and 4 twins 4 times. Of these, only 2 children died in infancy.
Of our contemporaries, the most prolific mother is Leontina Albina from San Antonio, Chile, who gave birth to 55 children in 1943-81. As a result of the first 5 pregnancies, she gave birth to triplets, and exclusively male.
Woman with the most births
The record number of births, 38, is claimed to be Elizabeth Greenhill of Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, UK. She had 39 children - 32 daughters and 7 sons - and died in 1681.
The largest father in history
The largest father in history is the Russian peasant of the village of Vvedensky Yakov Kirillov, who in 1755 was presented to the court in connection with this (he was then 60 years old). The first wife of a peasant gave birth to 57 children: 4 times four, 7 times three, 9 times two, and 2 times one. The second wife gave birth to 15 children. Thus, Yakov Kirillov had 72 children from two wives.
Family and childrenRG-DigestRG-PhotoPhoto of the day
The main thing today
Mother of six children and popular blogger: how does she do it?
- Diana Kuryshko, Oksana Poddubnaya
- BBC News Ukraine
Denis is chasing pigeons, and Dasha sees a cat and runs after him. David throws sand and falls into Alice. They were just next to each other, but then scatter in different directions.
Photo by facebook.com/odessafiver
This is how an ordinary walk looks like from Odessa Oksana Kobeletskaya, a well-known blogger and mother of six children.
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How to survive in such a rhythm and not go crazy, she told BBC News Ukraine.
Five at a time
Three years ago, 37-year-old microbiologist Oksana was still on maternity leave with her daughter Alice when she found out that she was pregnant for the second time - and immediately with five.
"Some doctors talked about a healthy body, and that hormones worked this way. Others put forward hypotheses about body features. When I found out that I was carrying five at once, it was very scary. But their hearts were already beating in me, so I could only move forward ".
The author of the photo, Photo courtesy of Oksana Kobeletskaya
Caption to photo,Oksana was pregnant and gave birth to quintuplets. Such a pregnancy happens once in several million
A rare case, one in millions - the doctors talked about Oksana's pregnancy and warned of possible complications.
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But despite all the warnings, she carried and gave birth to five healthy children - twins Dasha and Sasha, twins Denis and Vlad, and also David.
Babies were born prematurely, weighing about a kilogram each, but breathing on their own.
Photo author, instagram.com/odessafiver/
Photo caption,They are always together - they communicate, play, argue and make peace
Round-the-clock kindergarten
Now Oksana's life is a round-the-clock kindergarten. Alice and her five younger siblings. "Fives are just cute. And Alice from a fairy tale," the woman says about her family.
There is always Brownian movement around Oksana - the children run around, asking to drink, write or pick them up. They dance and ask dozens of questions at the same time. This is how our walk by the sea looks like. Oksana dresses the children in bright light green vests with reflective elements. So the children are clearly visible and easier to catch.
Oksana is always with her mother. “Mom was my hands. She took over the eldest daughter during pregnancy. Without her, I could not have coped,” the woman admits. Almost immediately after the birth of the children, Oksana experienced a divorce from her husband.
During the day, a nanny comes to the aid of a large family, whose work is paid for by philanthropists. The three of us with a nanny take six children for a walk easier, the woman says.
"For a safe walk, you need to have one adult for two children," says Oksana.
The author of the photo, VVS
Caption to the photo,Children never confuse each other, even from the back they can tell which of the twins is jumping on the trampoline - Dasha or Sasha
She says that she could not do without charitable help. The mayor's office of Odessa recently presented the family with a stove and refrigerator, and when the children were just born - an apartment. President Petro Poroshenko donated a car.
"I'm afraid to voice these figures, how much money is needed per month for food and clothing for six children," the woman says.
- No family, no children, no sex: why Korean women refuse relationships. They started going to kindergarten a few weeks ago, and for mom it was a real salvation - in a few hours during the day, you can do a lot of things. In addition, they recently ended up in the hospital after a cold with their son David, and the grandmother herself would not have coped with five at home.
Rules and Order
Over the three years of living in such a tense rhythm, Oksana calls children’s illnesses the most difficult moment: “And they usually get sick all at the same time. Somehow we spent more than two months with them in the hospital. The children had rotavirus , and it was necessary to change diapers at a breakneck pace, wash clothes non-stop, give several medicines and food at once. Mom and I were torn between them, did not sleep and did not eat. "
"After giving birth, Oksana lost so much weight, she was already transparent, so tortured," grandma Olya recalls the first days with her children.
It became easier when the children grew up a little and they had a general routine, the woman recalls. For example, everyone was given bottles of formula, and they ate and slept at the same time.
The author of the photo, instagram.com/odessafiver/
But new challenges awaited the family when weaning began - one person could only feed two children at a time.
"We have rules, a routine and order - we eat only at the table and without cartoons. Everyone has their own plate and a spoon of a certain color. Without these rules, we just can't cope. And the children are so calmer," says Oksana.
The author of the photo, VVS
Photo caption,Everyone has their own slippers, and the children know the colors of each other's slippers.
In Instagram, which Oksana called Odessafiver, there are a lot of funny videos: how children eat borscht with meatballs, and the whole kitchen is in borscht, how they jump on a trampoline, draw, and how, sitting side by side, watching cartoons.
During a walk with the film crew, the children manage to sit in one place: they paint coloring books, stick stickers and show their drawings to their mother in a race.
But it is possible to collect them in one frame only for a moment. And again everyone scatters.
Oksana remains calm. Takes turns picking up children, answering dozens of their questions.
"After having children, my life changed instantly. I became bolder, stronger. I believed in myself. Then I could not even imagine that I could do what I do now. For example, I could not imagine that I would give interviews or blog for a thousand people."
Photo by Oksana Kobeletskaya
Instagram account has become not only an opportunity to speak out and find support, but also a chance to help the family - people who read it send clothes and shoes for children, toys and books.
"I have the coolest and most demanding subscribers. They will always find words of support and advice, inspiration and strength. I am very grateful to them. I have many mothers of many children, mothers with twins. A mother of many children from Kyiv recently sent us T-shirts."
On Instagram, where Oksana has over 130,000 followers, she shares cupcake recipes, divorce stories from her husband, and transitioning from diapers to potty.