Quadruplets born at city hospital
Shaheen Mollah
A 34-year-old woman gave birth to quadruplets at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) hospital yesterday. The mother and the children are in stable condition. Nilufer Begum, wife of Shafiqul Islam, an expatriate living in Saudi Arabia, gave birth to two boys weighing 1.2 and 1.3 kilograms and two girls weighing 1.1 and 1.2 kilograms around 11:00am yesterday. Sultana Jahan, chairman of Gynaecology Department, helped the delivery through a caesarean. The babies were kept in incubators in the Paediatric ward of BSMMU for complications due to underweight. Jahan said they had to arrange for the emergency caesarean operation as complications developed after the mother accidentally fell down and received injuries. "The babies are premature as they were delivered early," Jahan said adding that Nilufer's scheduled delivery date was later this month. She said lack of nutritious diet during her pregnancy also contributed to the children being born underweight. Child Specialist of BSMMU MS Khaled told The Daily Star the babies were underweight and their condition may deteriorate if proper care is not provided. "Even though the condition of the quadruplets is stable nothing could be said before 72 hours," he added. Nilufer, who hails from Debidwar of Comilla, had an ultra sonogram performed on her at a local hospital six months into her pregnancy. The ultra sonogram report revealed of her being pregnant with quadruplets. The doctor asked her to have the delivery in Dhaka to be better prepared for complications that may arise before, during and after delivery. She was admitted at Ad-Din Hospital in Moghbazar in the capital on July 12. Ad-Din Hospital, taking extra precaution, referred her to BSMMU. Nilufer, who is a mother of eight now, gave birth to her first child 16 years ago. Her family members said they were very happy to have the quadruplets. "It's a moment of joy for us, we now have two brothers in the family," said the 16-year-old eldest sister of the new-borns. Hospital sources said birth of quadruplets is indeed a very rare incident and there are less than 100 quadruplets in the world. The last known quadruplets in Bangladesh were born at Ad-Din Hospital in August, 2004.
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