International News: Australian woman gives birth to rare identical quadruplets

By Zoila Palma:  An Australian couple is celebrating the birth of four identical baby girls after an extremely rare, naturally conceived pregnancy that doctors estimate occurs in only one out of every 15 million pregnancies. The babies were delivered by caesarean section at 28 weeks and four days on July 14 at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, BBC reports. The newborns — Emily, Harriet, Catherine and Alexa — are monozygotic quadruplets, meaning they developed after a single fertilized egg split into four embryos. Doctors described the pregnancy as exceptionally high-risk, with the babies sharing one placenta, a condition specialists said is virtually unheard of. Doctors closely monitored 34-year-old mother Jenitar Na’amoana after admitting her to the hospital at 25 weeks. Maternal fetal medicine specialist Dr. Alexa Bendall said reaching 28 weeks was a major milestone, adding that both the mother and babies avoided the serious complications often associated with such pregnancies. The fourth baby was named Alexa in honor of the doctor. The four girls are receiving care in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit and are reported to be doing well. The post International News: Australian woman gives birth to rare identical quadruplets appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.