This Monday in Pretoria, a 37-year-old woman broke the official birth record by giving birth to ten children.
- The deliveries took place after 29 weeks of pregnancy and Gosiame Thamara Sithole, the mum, is reported to be in good health.
- There were 5 natural deliveries and 5 caesarean sections.
This is a new world record! Gosiame Thamara Sithole, a 37-year-old South African living in Pretoria, gave birth to 10 children on Monday. A surprise since, as reported by her husband Teboho Tsotetsi, the first scans had shown that her mother was carrying “only” eight children. “It’s seven boys and three girls. I am happy. I am moved. I can’t talk much”, he confided to Pretoria News.
5 natural deliveries, 5 caesareans
The births, which were confirmed at the BBC by a manager and a family member who did not wish to be identified, resulted in five Caesarean sections and five by natural means. The deliveries took place after 29 weeks of pregnancy and Gosiame Thamara Sithole, the mum, is reported to be in good health. “Most pregnancies involving a large number of babies end prematurely”, explained Rhoda Odhiambo, health journalist at BBC Africa.
Guinness World Records said it is investigating whether this is the new official world birth record. This one could have been beaten twice almost in quick succession. In 2009, an American woman took the lead in giving birth to eight children, but last month a 25-year-old Malian, Halima Cissé, gave birth to nine babies in Morocco. This record could now go into double digits.
“A miracle that I appreciate”
A month earlier, Ms Sithole opened up to Pretoria News about her unusual pregnancy and explained that it was a difficult start. “How were they going to fit in the womb?”, she wondered. Added to this are leg pains. It was then that the doctors discovered that two of the eight fetuses “were in the wrong tube”. “It was fixed and I’ve been fine ever since. I can’t wait to have my children“, she confided.
VIDEO 1.
Decuplets mother Gosiame Sithole and her husband, Teboho Tsotetsi on their first reaction when doctors told them about the 10 babies, and the unique pregnancy. #GuinnessWorldRecord #NationalBabyShower @IndyMediaSA @pietrampedi pic.twitter.com/op2By5nMMC— Pretoria News (@pretorianews) June 9, 2021
These children are not her first since she already gave birth to twins six years ago. The arrival of ten new family members at once does not seem to scare the couple. “It’s a miracle that I appreciate“, thus shared her husband.
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