A MUM has claimed she set the new world record after saying she had given birth to TEN babies when medics missed two tots during a scan. Gossamer Sithole, 37, said she was left in shock after she delivered decuplets in a hospital in Pretoria, South Africa yesterday.
If confirmed, it would be the world’s largest-ever live birth. Her husband Teboho Tsotetsi claimed his wife gave birth to the seven boys and three girls via C-section at 29 weeks. He told Pretoria News last night: “It’s seven boys and three girls!
“She was seven months and seven days pregnant. I am happy. I am emotional. I can’t talk much.” However, officials have said they have no evidence of the deliveries. Government communications department director-general Phumla Williams asked the public and tagged IOL in a tweet asking for more information.
She said: “We need to verify this story and provide assistance where needed.” Ekurhuleni Mayor Mzwandile Masina also said they had not been able to find the family. The mum who also has six-year-old twins had previously told the outlet that her pregnancy was natural as she was not on fertility treatment.
During an interview at their family home in Tembisa last month she said she was “shocked and fascinated” by the pregnancy. She said she was in disbelief when the doctors told her she was expecting sextuplets – meaning six babies – before further scans revealed that it was in fact octuplets or eight babies.
“I didn’t believe it, I doubted it, I was convinced that if it was more, it would be twins or triplets, not more than that. “When the doctor told me, I took time to believe it, even when I saw the scans I didn’t believe it. “But, as time went by, I realized it was indeed true. I battled to sleep at night though,” she said.
The 37-year-old mother expressed her concern for the safety of her children, but she was overjoyed and eager to meet them. “In the womb, how would they fit? Are they going to make it?” What if they came out with their heads, tummies, or hands connected together? What would happen if that happened, for example?
Professor Dini Mawela of Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University said her condition was unusual and generally resulted from reproductive procedures, adding that the infants would spend the next few months in the incubator. “This is a one-of-a-kind circumstance. I have no idea how frequently this occurs. It carries a significant amount of risk (pregnancy).
“It’s a complicated and perhaps dangerous issue. Because there isn’t enough room in the womb for two babies, there’s a risk. “It’s a highly complex and high-risk situation. The danger is that, because there is not enough space in the womb for the children, the tendency is that they will be small. “What would happen is that they would take them out pre-term because there is a risk if they keep them longer in there.
“The babies will come out small, chances of survival compromised. But all this depends on how long she carried them for.” “I asked myself all these questions until the doctor assured me that my womb was starting to expand inside.