Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. TOTOTO A Brisbane woman has given birth to identical quadruplets – an extremely rare event, “one in 15 million” – and doctors say the pregnancy could be the first in Australia. Jenitar Sau Na’amoana, 34, was
A Brisbane woman has given birth to identical quadruplets – an extremely rare event, “one in 15 million” – and doctors say the pregnancy could be the first in Australia.
Jenitar Sau Na’amoana, 34, was raising four young children and had not planned to have another child with her husband Jortham when she naturally fell pregnant with the quadruplets.
Dr Alexa Bendall, a fetal medicine specialist and obstetrician at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, cared for Sau Na’amoana throughout her pregnancy.
He said the now mother of eight handled the news well and took “everything in stride from day one.”
This included recognizing the high-risk nature of a quadruplet pregnancy.
“Any time you have a multiple pregnancy (which is usually twins, not quadruples) where the babies share a placenta, there is a very high risk of complications,” Bendall said.
“Babies may be growth restricted…there may be a high risk of mortality and morbidity for these babies and their mothers.
“So the fact that we have four beautiful, healthy babies born at 28 weeks and four days is incredible, and we are so happy to be a part of it.”
Monozygotic quadruplets (identical quadruplets separated from a single fertilized egg) are one of the rarest types of pregnancies in the world.
Adding to Sau Na’amoana’s extraordinary odds was the fact that her quadruplets shared the same placenta.
“This is unheard of,” Bendall said.
“So four sacs, one placenta… we think the numbers are about one in 15 million for a case like this, which is spontaneously conceived. We don’t think it’s ever happened in Australia.
“There may have been a couple of cases in other parts of the world, and when I say a couple, literally a couple; two. But this is the only case we know of in Australia.”
Sau Na’amoana has been cared for by a team of experts at the RBWH for 10 weeks, and was admitted as an inpatient at 25 weeks for close follow-up.
The four girls, Emily, Harriet, Alexa and Catherine, were born by Caesarean section on July 14. Alexa is named after Bendall.
“I feel incredibly honored that they decided to name one of their daughters after me,” she said.
All four babies are currently doing “extremely well” and will remain in the hospital’s specialist Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) until they grow to term.
“We always said if we could get her to 28 weeks, we’d be fine, so we’re happy she was able to make it to this gestation,” Bendall said.
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