An Australian woman has given birth to identical quadruplet girls doctors described as incredibly rare.
Jenitar Sau Na鈥檃moana, who is 34 years old and already had four children, delivered the babies last week at Royal Brisbane and Women鈥檚 Hospital in Queensland state.
鈥淲e are very excited to be able to care for this amazing little family, a big family now,鈥� Dr. Alexa Bendall, a who cared for Na鈥檃moana, said in an interview released by the hospital.
The babies were and came from one fertilized egg that split into four, 鈥渨hich was incredible,” Bendall said.
鈥淲e think the figures are probably around 1 in 15 million for a case like this to be spontaneously conceived,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 ever happened in Australia.鈥�
Overall, experts say, the chance of conceiving quadruplets naturally is only 1 in 700,000; most are conceived with the assistance of medical technology.
Hospital officials said Na鈥檃moana and her husband, Jortham, hadn鈥檛 planned to have more children and were quite surprised when she became pregnant with the quadruplets.
Na鈥檃moana faced a high risk of complications, especially given the fetuses shared one placenta. In general, being pregnant with any multiple fetuses puts a mom at increased risk for problems such as preterm birth, miscarriage and birth defects, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Na鈥檃moana was monitored by a large medical team at the hospital since 10 weeks gestation and was admitted as an inpatient at 25 weeks so she could be monitored, hospital officials said. She delivered the babies by cesarean section on July 14.
鈥淭he fact that we鈥檝e got four beautiful, healthy babies born at 28 weeks and four days is incredible,鈥� Bendall said. “Mum did lose a little bit of blood but not an excessive amount for having quads, and she鈥檚 doing well.鈥�
The babies are doing well in the neonatal intensive care unit. Their names are Emily, Harriet, Catherine and Alexa, in honor of Bendall. The doctor called the name a 鈥渂eautiful tribute,鈥� and said she feels privileged to have helped bring these children into the world.
鈥淔rom an academic perspective, it鈥檚 really interesting,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut also from a human perspective, to be able to be part of the family鈥檚 journey and come out with four beautiful babies and a healthy mum is very precious.鈥�
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