An Australian woman has given birth to rare, naturally-conceived identical quadruplets, a medical event described as "extremely high risk" by the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital. The four girls were delivered via cesarean section at 28 weeks and four days on July 14.
The newborns are monozygotic quadruplets, meaning they developed from a single fertilized egg that split into four embryos. Their mother, 34-year-old Jenitar Na'amoana, and her husband Jortham, who already have four children, were reportedly taken by "immense surprise" upon learning of the pregnancy.
Dr. Alexa Bendall, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist and obstetrician who cared for Na'amoana, estimated that identical quadruplets occur in approximately one in 15 million pregnancies. She noted that the simultaneous development of four embryos from a single fertilized egg, all sharing the same placenta, is considered unprecedented.
Due to the high-risk nature of the pregnancy, Na'amoana was admitted to the hospital as an inpatient at 25 weeks for continuous monitoring. "We always said that if we could get her to 28 weeks, we would be doing well," Bendall stated. "So the fact that we've got four beautiful, healthy babies born at 28 weeks and four days is incredible."