Chandigarh woman gives birth to quadruplets

A woman in her mid-twenties gave birth to quadruplets on Thursday morning at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh.

Doctors at the hospital described the delivery of ‘four offspring of one pregnancy’ as a very rare phenomenon.

The incidence of higher-order multiple pregnancies, essentially quadruplets, is less than 0.07% of all pregnancies, doctors say. What makes the case of the Chandigarh women noteworthy is that the doctors managed to delay the delivery to avoid premature birth. All four babies and the mother, Jyoti, are now stable.

When Joyti first came to the PGI as an expecting mother, she was informed about the risks involved in premature delivery. Jyoti showed willpower and positivity to deal with the situation. Finally, quadruplets were born in the thirty-fourth week which is considered safe. The father of the four babies is a constable in Chandigarh police.

Head of the gynaecology department at PGI, Dr Vineta Suri said such pregnancy and deliveries are rare since statistically one in over 6 lakh pregnant women gives birth to quadruplets or more. In excess of 90% of all multiple births are twins while the remaining 10% shared between triplets, quadruplets or more.

In 2013, 28-year-old Anju Kushwaha of Satna district, MP, went into labour pain at just 12 weeks and gave birth to ten babies- nine midway to the hospital and one in the operation theatre. All were born dead being premature.