Simon Ndung’u Kinyanjui, a 28-year-old matatu driver based in Nakuru, expressed his surprise after his 25-year-old wife, Margaret Wairimu, gave birth to five babies on Tuesday, January 31.
Confirming the birth, the hospital’s Medical Superintendent, Aisha Maina said Margaret Wairimu who delivered Quintuplets at the Margaret Kenyatta Mother and Baby wing of the Nakuru Level 5 Hospital was received at the facility on January 27 for a check up during which it was established she was at risk.
“She came in through the hospital’s outpatient with discomfort, and on checking her, the medics realised that she had multiple pregnancies,” Maina revealed.
As a result, she was immediately admitted and placed under observation by specialists because she had a high-risk pregnancy. That was until she went into labour and underwent an emergency cesarean section.
The babies, four girls and a boy were all born underweight and incubated at the hospital’s Margaret Kenyatta Mother and Baby wing.
“The babies were delivered at seven months and have to be incubated for survival,” she said, adding that the four girls and one boy weighed between 500 grams and 650 grams.
Dr. Maina said the mother was in a stable condition and would be discharged once the infants attained the right body weight.
The father of the quintuplets Simon Ndung’u who works as a matatu driver at 2NK Sacco, said he received the news while on a trip to ferry passengers to Nairobi.
“The news shocked me, but at the same time, I became happy for this unusual occurrence. I believe there is a reason for its rarity that it had to happen to my wife and I,” said Ndung’u.
The 28-year-old man from Bahati, Nakuru, explained that they were planning for their second child, and the earlier revelation from her routine checkups that she was to deliver triplets came as a surprise to them.
Ndung’u said he had only received prior knowledge of the expectancy given that they were planning for a second child.
“We also have a four-year-old daughter, and this was her second pregnancy. The news came as a shock, but I am happy, and I believe there is a reason why God gave these five children to my wife and me,” Ndung’u stated.
He further appealed to well-wishers to provide him with financial support since he has six children and his wife to provide for as the sole breadwinner.
“Am appealing to well-wishers for support. Her most recent scan showed that she was carrying three babies, but another two have come along at birth,” said Ndung’u.
The delivery makes it the highest multiple birth ever in the history of the facility.
Dr James Waweru, the obstetrician in charge of the maternity unit at the hospital, said that in multiple births, chances of survival are lower due to low birth weight.
“We are and have done our best for the babies to survive. Such cases occur where a woman may have one egg splitting into many, in which case such children have one placenta. Other times, a woman may release multiple eggs,” said Dr Waweru
