A Nigerian couple who had been trying to conceive for 17 years had their baby dreams come true last month — times six!
On May 11 at 8:26 a.m. Ajibola Taiwo, a native of western Nigeria, gave birth to three boys and three girls by cesarean section, the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU announced this week.
Taiwan was 30 weeks and two days pregnant when she gave birth to the sextuplets. The babies ranged in weight from 1 pound, 10 ounces to 2 pounds, 15 ounces and are still in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit but doing well. Their mom was discharged May 18 but have been tirelessly helping to care for their infants.
“I hope for the smallest of my six children to grow up and say, ‘I was so small, and look at me now,’” said Ajibola Taiwo, according to the hospital’s press release. “I want my kids come back to VCU to study and learn to care for others with the same people who cared for me and my family.”
It was the first sextuplet delivery in the history of the hospital, it said in the news release announcing their births. A 40-person team helped deliver the infants.
“The team quickly assembled to begin prenatal management and delivery planning including pre-delivery drills and resuscitation exercises,” said Susan Lanni, M.D., medical director of labor and delivery and maternal-fetal specialist at VCU Medical Center, the hospital press release said. “A typical labor and delivery shift includes one, perhaps two premature births, usually with time in between. We had to coordinate with our colleagues in the NICU for six premature babies to be delivered simultaneously.”
The parents, who are not yet doing interviews with the media, were thrilled when they saw four heartbeats at their first ultrasound in November, according to the hospital.
“I was excited,” said Adeboye Taiwo, the father, according to the press release. “For the very first time we were expecting…The medical team is excellent in medicine and hospitality. We are far from home but the medical team is our family. That is what got us this far.”