Quadruplets, Butaro Hospital - Partners in Health, Burera District, Rwanda.

Quadruplets, Butaro Hospital – Partners in Health, Burera District, Rwanda.

From five to nine children. Butaro Rwanda,  quadrouplets,

From five to nine children. Butaro Rwanda, quadrouplets,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During the month of April 2009, at the Butaro Hospital in rural northern Rwanda,  an ultrasound of a 20th week pregnant woman showed she was carrying twins.  Three months later she returned to the hospital to be seen for a persistent cough.   The timing couldn’t have been better  as she went into full labor before leaving the facility.  Her large abdomen warranted a new ultrasound which revealed the presence of a third child.  All three were delivered successfully, followed by the unexpected delivery of a fourth.

The chances of naturally giving birth to quadruplets in this region is less than 1 in 800,000.  Even rarer, these babies shared a single placenta, the odds of which are around 1 in 10 million.

On December 1st I was invited to visit the four and a half month old quadruplet girls.  Beautiful, happy, and healthy, with two proud parents and 5 older siblings, the four babies are a joyous sight.  The former family of 7 has adjusted to becoming a household of 11, and the government of Rwanda has stepped up to provide extra services including two new cows to provide milk for family.

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