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Farm labourer gives birth to quadruplets

Rajesh Nair

"Survival of babies depends on post-natal care" "Except breathing problem that she reported three days before the delivery,everything was normal"

IN A FAMILY: Tamilarasi with her babies. — Photo: T. Singaravelou

PONDICHERRY: A farm labourer couple from Navalpakkam village in Tindivanam is happy, and yet worried after quadruplets were born pre-maturely to them at a private hospital in Kalapet near here.

Tamilarasi (21) gave birth to three male and one female, all below 1.4 kg on last Saturday through normal delivery. The female baby weighs only 850 grams and all the four are in the neo-natal ward of Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences.

Dr. Vedavalli, professor and head of the department of obstetrics and gynaecology department of PIMS, said the mother was in good health and could be discharged in a few days. The babies were at present responding to the care and had to remain in the ward till they gain normal weight, she added.

The father, Mahesh (29), though eager to see the babies out from the ward, is worried a lot about their upbringing.

Both mother and father work in farmlands for their daily sustenance.

"How will I go for work with the four babies," she keeps on telling the nurses attending her. She was referred to PIMS when the gestation period was 19 weeks and an ultrasound scan of foetus showed multiple pregnancies.

"The scan results only showed three babies. The fourth baby was noticed at the time of delivery," Dr. Vedavalli told The Hindu . The babies were born in intervals of 7-10 minutes each.

"The incidence of quadruplets is about one in five lakh. Fetal reduction is undertaken in early pregnancy to improve the survival of the babies. The survival of the babies born depends on the post natal care," she added. She further added that Tamilarasi's case was rare as normally in multiple pregnancy babies were delivered by the caesarean operation.

"She didn't have much complication. Except the breathing problem that she reported three days before the delivery, everything was normal," the doctor added.

Multiple pregnancies

Also, in most cases the cause of multiple pregnancies was drug induced. That is when drugs are taken for increasing fertility chances of multiple pregnancies were high, she noted.

But Tamilarasi married one year ago and conceived normally, Dr. Vedavalli said.

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