Sextuplets Born in China; 4 Surviving Babies Stable
Four surviving infants from China’s first naturally conceived sextuplets were in stable condition Monday, after their two smallest siblings died of lung hemorrhages.
The four boys and two girls were born Wednesday to a 33-year-old woman in Shenyang, the capital of northeastern Liaoning province. One boy and one girl died Saturday evening, said Sun Ay, a researcher at the No. 2 Hospital at China Medical University.
“Conditions of prematurely born babies change extremely rapidly. Though the rest of the babies have overcome respiratory difficulties, there could possibly be other problems,” the state-run Xinhua News Agency quoted Dr. Mao Jan of the hospital’s Newborn Intensive Care Department as saying.
The babies who died were “the lightest ones of the six,” Mao said.
The mother, Yao Hong, hadn’t used fertility drugs, making her babies the first naturally conceived sextuplets in China.
The babies were delivered by caesarean section when Yao, then 28 weeks pregnant, experienced delivery problems.
The largest weighed 2 1/2 pounds, Sun said.
Sun said the hospital had been swamped with visitors and requests for media coverage since news of the birth was disclosed.
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