After being childless for eight years since marriage, a woman has given birth to quadruplets (four babies) via in-vitro fertilisation procedure at a private facility in Delhi, hospital authorities said on Saturday.
The 32-year-old mother, a homemaker, has given birth to three boys and a girl, a spokesperson of the hospital said, adding that they are all healthy and back at home now.
The Ghaziabad-based couple struggled for eight years before becoming parents. Infertility is often attributed to advanced-age parenthood.
However, the husband and wife were at the brink of giving up as they opted for assisted reproductive technologies (ART), like intrauterine insemination (IUI) to become parents, but failed due to low ovarian reserve (the number and quality of eggs in the ovary), doctors at the IVF clinic said.
The birth took place on July 12 at a unit of Seeds of Innocence, a fertility clinic chain based in south Delhi.
Dr Gauri Agarwal, director and co-founder, Seeds of Innocence, says the woman had already gone through four cycles of IUI by the time she came to the clinic.
Upon investigating the reasons, it was found that anti-mullerian hormone (AMH) levels were low, which indicated low ovarian reserve, such women need IVF, she said.
"Since the semen sample yielded normal results, we opted for IVF after due counselling to know more about any family history of infertility or addiction, etc.
After complete ovarian stimulation, we retrieved four ovum that yielded three embryos, which were transferred – the Indian Medical Council of Research allows transferring of up to three embryos if the quality is not satisfactory," the doctor said.
"When we did a trans-vaginal scan for viability on six weeks, we found three sacs and four heartbeats. Six weeks later, it was confirmed that all three embryos have thrived, and one of those have further divided to become twins," she said .
The would-be parents were offered the option of in-house foetal reduction and explained in detail about risks of carrying quadruplet pregnancy, but "they persisted," the hospital said.
"On sixteenth week, we put a cervical stitch to prevent cervix from opening and she was kept on close antenatal watch. After 33 weeks, she delivered four healthy babies – three boys and one girl – all weighing more than 1.5 kg," Agarwal said.
The process was challenging on many accounts – maternal risks included gestational diabetes mellitus, pregnancy-induced hypertension, miscarriage, anaemia, breathing difficulties, placenta abruption in which placenta separates prematurely and leads to bleeding, hydramnios (excessive amniotic fluid build-up), and post-partum haemorrhage, doctors said.
For the foetuses, the risks included pre-term delivery, intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), multiple birth defects, twin-to-twin transfusion, and cord entanglement, Agarwal added.
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