A Chinese woman pregnant with quadruplets gave birth to two boys a week ago, but the other two fetuses remain in her womb.
Her first baby was born on March 22 at Qilu Hospital of Shandong University in Jinan, Shandong province, eastern China, after a pregnancy of 25 weeks and 6 days, news portal w.dzwww.com reported. Four days later, the second son was born.The two infants are being kept in incubators as doctors try to postpone the delivery of the remaining two as premature babies tend to have complications, said Ma Yuyan, a doctor from the hospital.
“The first two babies had extremely early births. If all four babies were born at that time, they would have many complications and it’s quite risky for all of them to survive,” she said.
“My babies are in the incubators. I have not seen them yet,” said the father, surnamed Chu.
He said he massages his wife’s legs for half an hour every day since her legs have become swollen from her pregnancy. “My wife endures the most hardship. I am grateful to her,” said Chu.
Chu said his 22-year-old wife at first was told she carried triplets because a fourth fetus was obscured during check-ups. Later, when they found she was pregnant with quadruplets, it was too late to reduce the number of fetuses, he said.
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The couple are from the rural area of Jining in Shandong. The family has a household income of 5,000 yuan (US$786) per month earned by Chu who works for a logistics company. They said the medical costs – 10,000 yuan (US$1,573) per baby per day in the incubator – has placed a heavy financial burden on the family.
The doctor Ma said the pregnant woman came to seek medical treatment for a cervical problem when she was 22-week pregnant.
She soon underwent an emergency procedure to reinforce her cervix. Three weeks later, her first son was born, weighing 700 grams, said Ma.
Doctors performed the emergency procedure again, but four days later, the second boy was born preterm, weighing 800 grams.
“We don’t suggest women carry so many fetuses because of the high occurrence of preterm labour, premature rupture of fetal membranes and conditions like hypertension and diabetes,” said Ma.
“We advise couples to consider reducing the number of fetuses based on a strict assessment. Generally speaking, carrying twins is relatively safe,” she said.
Interval delivery is rare in China and around the world. In 2017, a woman in Yichang, Hubei, central China, gave birth to a baby boy six days earlier than his two sisters.
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