A woman in Kakamega County has given birth to four babies through a caesarian section at the St Mary’s mission hospital in Mumias town.
Ms Mildred Oranga, 33, of Mwikali village in Marama Central in Butere Sub County had been informed by doctors that she would deliver triplets but to her surprise, as doctors raced against time during the delivery, they found four babies. The woman has two other children.
The babies, who were born with breathing difficulties, weighed 1.4kg, 1.58kg, 1.7kg and 1.9kg.
They were immediately put on oxygen support at the newborn baby unit.
Three of the newborns are girls while the fourth is a boy.
A doctor who conducted the C-section said the babies had been born preterm –as the pregnancy had not reached 37 weeks.
Ms Oranga was admitted to the maternity ward on Monday afternoon with lower abdominal pains.
The nurse in charge of the newborn unit Ms Christine Muyoka said after receiving the patient, a doctor examined her and prepared her for C-section.
“We managed a successful operation and four babies were extracted. After the birth, the newborns were kept in the Special Newborn Care Unit (SNCU) as they were underweight and were born before the expected 9-month period,” said Ms Muyoka.
“The mother and her three children are in stable condition. We are monitoring them closely and they are doing well. Initially, the babies were put on oxygen support. But after a few hours, three of them stabilised. One is still weak and has since been put in the incubator,” added Ms Muyoka.
First time
Ms Muyoka said it was the first time the hospital had handled such a delivery.
“Mostly, we get twins. But this is the first time we have handled a case of quadruplets,” said Ms Muyoka.
The children are being fed on intra-vein fluids because their mother, was still too weak to breastfeed them.
Ms Oranga said she was overjoyed after giving birth to three girls and one baby boy, even though she had expected three babies.
“During antenatal clinics, I went for ultra-sound and I was informed I was carrying triplets. I was happy to wait for the triplets only to get the fourth baby,” said Ms Oranga.
She said she went to the hospital for a checkup after she developed abdominal pains but pains became stronger and developed into labour pains.
“The doctor who examined me decided that I had to undergo a C-section birth and that is how I gave birth to my four children,” said the overjoyed mother.
She said although her family was happy after receiving her bundles of joy, she expressed concerns about the burden of raising the children, since her husband, a boda boda operator does not make enough money from his business.
“I request assistance, it’s hard to feed such a number of children since my husband is making very little money from his business,” said Ms Oranga.
She said she was considering family planning to avoid getting pregnant again.
