THE MOST BABIES BORN AT ONCE 

Did you know that a South African woman who gave birth to 10 babies in 2021 may have set a new Guinness World Record for the most babies born at once? 

In 2021, a South African woman, Gosiame Thamara Sithole, reportedly gave birth to 10 babies, a new world record. Before going into labour, an earlier scan showed eight babies (decuplets) in the womb.

The couple were stunned when after labour, the babies were seven boys and three girls, leading to the husband Teboho Tsotets to exclaim, "I am happy. I am emotional. I can't talk much."

A family member, who did not want to be identified, told the BBC that Ms Sithole had had 10 babies - five via natural birth and 5 via caesarean section. Meanwhile, Guinness World Records told the news network that it was investigating Ms Sithole's case.

As of 2021, a woman who had eight babies in the US in 2009 holds the Guinness World Record for the most children delivered at a single birth to survive. But that record was broken when in May 2021, 25-year-old Halima Cissé from Mali gave birth to nine babies (nonuplets) at a clinic in Morocco.

Ahead of the birth, Halima Cissé, now 27, was flown to Morocco for specialist care. Before returning they had been living with medical support in Casablanca. After arriving back in the Malian capital, Bamako, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, the father Abdelkader Arby thanked the Malian government for helping the family financially.

The babies - five girls and four boys - were born by Caesarean section at 30 weeks, according to the Malian authorities last year. The girls - named Kadidia, Fatouma, Hawa, Adama and Oumou - and the boys - named Mohammed VI, Oumar, Elhadji and Bah - weighed between 500g and 1kg (1.1lb and 2.2lb) at birth, Prof Youssef Alaoui, medical director of the clinic where they were born, told the AFP news agency.

There were risks that they could have developed health problems due to their premature birth and they spent the first months of their lives in hospital. They were then moved to an apartment where they received round-the-clock care from the Ain Borja clinic.

On their first birthday, their father said that each one has a unique personality, and that they had become famous in Mali and people were "very keen to see the babies with their own eyes".

Most pregnancies involving large numbers of babies end prematurely, says BBC Africa's health reporter Rhoda Odhiambo. Multiple births involving more than three babies are rare and often the result of fertility treatments - but in these cases the couples say they conceived naturally.

Image Source: Live Science

Sources:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-63955055

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-57400074