What the most babies born at one 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.
- Africa Live: Latest news and views from the continent
- The 'controlled chaos' of raising sextuplets
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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10 of the strangest pregnancies in the world
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Halima Cissé and Abdelkader Arby pictured with their nine children on their first birthday (Image credit: Akdital)Pregnancy is a remarkable time for any parent, but some of these record-breaking pregnancies take it to a whole new level —from a tiny baby who was slightly longer than a dinner fork when they were born, to a woman delivering nine babies at once.
We’ve pulled together a collection of some of the most mind-boggling pregnancies and births on record.
- Read more: Am I pregnant? 12 early signs of pregnancy
Longest baby
(Image credit: Wikipedia )In January 1987, Anna Bates gave birth to the longest baby ever recorded, according to Guinness World Records . The baby measured 28 inches (71.12 centimeters) from top to toe and weighed almost 22 pounds (10 kilograms). The baby, who was known as Babe, sadly died 11 hours later. The baby’s parents were both tall — Bates measured 7 feet 11 in (241 cm), and the baby’s father, Martin Van Buren Bates, measured 7 feet 9 in (236 cm) tall.
Shortest baby
(Image credit: Getty Images)On the other end of the spectrum, a very small baby, born 9.44 in (24 cm) long, is the shortest baby ever recorded, Guinness World Records reported. Nisa Juarez weighed just 11.3 ounces (320 grams) when she was born 108 days premature on July 20, 2002.
She was discharged from hospital five months later on Dec. 6, 2002.
Most babies born to one mother
(Image credit: Getty Images)A woman who lived during the 18th century and is known only as the first wife of Feodor Vassilyev), a peasant from Shuya, Russia, gave birth to 69 babies in her lifetime, according to Guinness World Records . However, she didn’t go into labor 69 times, as she gave birth to 16 pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets (she also holds the record for the most sets of twins and quadruplets born to one mother). Her husband remarried and had 18 more children with his second wife, meaning he had 87 children (although there is no way to verify that he fathered them all).
Most premature baby
(Image credit: University of Alabama at Birmingham)The record for the most premature baby to survive is held by Curtis Means, who was born after only 21 weeks in the womb and weighed just 14.8 oz (420 g), according to Guinness World Records.
His mother, Michelle Butler, gave birth to him in July 2020, and he was given a less than 1% chance of survival. Despite these odds, Curtis celebrated his second birthday in July 2022. He experienced some health complications due to his early delivery, including hypertension, for which he is medicated, and he initially had to be fed via a tube every three hours to keep his calorie intake up.
Most premature set of twins
(Image credit: Guinness World Records)The world record for the most premature surviving twins was set by a pair of Iowa twins, Keeley and Kambry Ewoldt, who were born to mother Jade Ewoldt at 22 weeks in 2018 — 125 days premature. The babies weighed just 17.3 oz (490 g) and 13.4 oz (379 g) respectively upon delivery.
First test tube baby
(Image credit: Mirrorpix/Getty Images)Louise Brown, the first “test tube baby” — a test tube baby is a baby conceived outside of the mother’s womb by in vitro fertilization and implanted later — was born on July 25, 1978 to mother Lesley Brown.
The world record states that she was externally conceived on Nov. 10, 1977.
Since Louise’s birth, over a million babies have been conceived via IVF, according to the American Society of Reproductive Medicine . IVF has also become safer, according to the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology , with reported instances of hemorrhage, infection and hyperstimulation (an excessive response by the body to IVF drugs) reduced as well.
Most babies born at once
(Image credit: Akdital)In 2021 a Malian woman named Halima Cissé gave birth to nonuplets — nine babies delivered from one pregnancy. Cissé, who was originally thought to be carrying seven babies, successfully delivered all nine babies by cesarean section after a 30-week gestation on May 6, 2021, breaking the world record for the most surviving children to be born at once. The family of 11 returned home to Mali after spending 19 months in Morocco.
Most sets of triplets born to one woman
(Image credit: Getty Images)Maddalena Granata, from Italy, gave birth to 15 sets of triplets over her lifetime.
She lived from 1839 to 1886, according to Guinness World Records , but not much else is known about her or her pregnancies.
Oldest human embryo carried to term
(Image credit: Getty Images)Twins created on April 22, 1992 by in-vitro fertilization were born on Oct. 31, 2022 after being preserved in liquid nitrogen for over 30 years. The twins, who hold the record for being the oldest embryos carried to term , were born to a British couple, Rachel and Philip Rideway, who named the children Lydia and Timothy.
Oldest mother to successfully carry a pregnancy to term
(Image credit: Getty Images)Maria del Carmen Bousada Lara received IVF treatment in California after lying about her age and telling the clinic she was 11 years younger than she actually was. In 2006 she broke the world record for the oldest mother to give birth at age 66 years and 358 days. She told the clinic that inseminated her that she was 55.
Lou Mudge is a health writer based in Bath, United Kingdom for Future PLC.
She holds an undergraduate degree in creative writing from Bath Spa University, and her work has appeared in Live Science, Tom's Guide, Fit & Well, Coach, T3, and Tech Radar, among others. She regularly writes about health and fitness-related topics such as air quality, gut health, diet and nutrition and the impacts these things have on our lives.
She has worked for the University of Bath on a chemistry research project and produced a short book in collaboration with the department of education at Bath Spa University.
10 children at a time: why Africans set records
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37-year-old South African Gosiama Sithole managed to set a world record by giving birth to 10 children at a time.
The uniqueness of the situation lies in the fact that the woman's pregnancy occurred naturally. Previously, the maximum number of babies, 11 boys, was born to a mother from India, but this happened after the in vitro fertilization procedure. Surprisingly, just recently, another resident of the African continent from Mali gave birth to nine babies at the same time. We found out whether multiple pregnancy can depend on race.
On Tuesday night, a lady from South Africa gave birth to seven boys and three girls. The woman had a caesarean section at 29 weeks to save all the babies. Two 6-year-old twin boys are already growing up in the African family. In early May, another resident of the African continent from Mali gave birth to 9 babies: 5 girls and four boys.
The birth of even 6-8 children is a rarity. And the birth of 9-10 babies is a completely unique case, especially if fertilization occurred naturally, and not using the IVF procedure.
Is there a connection between multiple pregnancy and race, or two world records in a row among African women is just a coincidence, we found out from the candidate of biological sciences, geneticist Olga Goncharova:
- From a scientific point of view, it is believed that there is a genetic predisposition to the birth of several children at the same time. Research has been conducted mainly on the birth of twins, which occurs most often. In particular, statistics show that the record holder for multiple pregnancies is the African continent, especially its western part, where, by the way, Mali is located, the birthplace of a mother who gave birth to nine babies in May. And Nigeria, also located in the west of the continent, is considered to be the global forge of twins. At the entrance to one of the local villages, there is even a sign “Country of twins”, in this village there is not a single family where twins are not born. For comparison, in this country, for every 22 births, there is 1 birth of twins.
At the same time, for Europeans, this ratio is 1:69, and for Asian women it is 1:125. In Russia, the chance of having twins is just over 1%. Perhaps a woman from South Africa, who had 10 children, has ancestors from Nigeria or other countries from the west of the continent.
Experts believe that in addition to genetic predisposition, multiple pregnancies in African women occur more often due to certain lifestyle and nutrition. African women begin to give birth at an early age and have children almost before menopause. It is known that the percentage of multiple pregnancies increases with age, after 35 years the female body is rebuilt in a certain way, and twins are born more often. There is an opinion that food also contributes to the birth of several children in Africa. The locals regularly consume the tubers of Dioscorea (herbaceous liana), they contain a large amount of the hormone phytoestrogen, which stimulates the ovaries and, in particular, promotes the maturation of several eggs at the same time.
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Olga Ignatov
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 birth weight of babies ranged from 0.68 to 0.9kilograms. 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 in 4.4 million people. Only once before in New York were born six babies at once. It happened in 1997.
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.
Doctors had to resort to caesarean section to help the babies be born. 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 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, all of whom 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.
Weight of babies - 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.
