In Strasbourg, a woman gave birth to sextuplets on Thursday May 14, an extremely rare event. The children, five girls and one boy, born very prematurely, are currently in neonatal intensive care and are expected to remain in hospital for several months.
The event is extremely rare. In Strasbourg, a woman gave birth on Thursday May 14 to sextuplets: five girls and a boy. The children, born prematurely, after 24 weeks and 6 days of amenorrhea (absence of periods), are currently in neonatal intensive care and should remain in hospital for several months, according to The Latest News from Alsace. Remember that for the World Health Organization, a baby is viable from 22 weeks.
The delivery took place at the Strasbourg-Hautepierre hospital and probably resulted from ovarian stimulation of the mother, who had already had two children before. Babies were born by caesarean section between 9:04 p.m. and 9:08 p.m. They weigh between 630 and 730 grams and are therefore very large premature babies. “We are very careful, it is a situation that requires all the technical skills of the very efficient team at Hautepierre hospital”, testifies a medical source. No less than thirty people supported the event. “After the Covid period, these teams who suffered were able to mobilize”.
If the mother and babies are doing well, “it will however be necessary to wait several weeks to be reassured about their state of health”, indicates maternity. They should be medically monitored at least until they are five years old.
One in 4.7 billion births
A birth of sextuplets is a very dangerous event, not only for the children but also for the mother. “A twin pregnancy is 10 times more likely to have a serious pathology. Imagine for sextuplets”explains gynecologist François Olivennes to RTL.
In France, the last birth of sextuplets dates back to 1989 to a couple living in Normandy. A year ago, in Krakow, a 29-year-old Polish mother of one child also gave birth to four girls and two boys, born by caesarean at the 29and week of pregnancy. The babies were a bit healthier than those from Strasbourg since they weighed between 890 and 1300 grams. They had spent several weeks in an incubator, fed through a small tube passing directly into the stomach through the nostril or mouth to minimize the effort required to suck and swallow.
“When we realize that there are sextuplets, logically, we propose an embryonic reduction, to transform this sextuple pregnancy into a twin pregnancy”, develops François Olivennes. This is why the birth of sextuplets occurs only once in 4.7 billion deliveries worldwide.
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