A woman in South Africa cl-aims to have set a world record by giving birth to 10 babies in the same pregnancy. Gosiame Thamara Sithole, 37, gave birth to decuplets at a hospital in Pretoria on 7 June. The birth is believed to have br**en the record held by Halima Cisse of Mali, who gave birth to nine babies at a hospital in Morocco in May.
The new record came as a surprise to Sithole, who is from the provi*ce of Gauteng, as doctors had initially told her that she was expecting just six children. Later scans then incorr-ectly revised the number to eight.
But she ended up giving birth to seven boys and three girls by ca*sar!an section at 29 weeks. According to Sithole, who is a retail store manager and also has twins aged six, the decuplets were conc-eived naturally – which is ra** in similar cases of births involving large numbers of children.
The earlier stages of pregn-ancy had been tough, with the mother saying she had been si*k and experienced leg pain and heartb***.
Sithole, who ha-ils from the township of Thembisa in the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, also expre-ssed concern that her unborn children would not su*vi*e the high-r** pregnancy. Thankfully, however, all 10 were born alive, and will now spend the next few months in incubators before Sithole and her husband, Teboho Tsotetsi can take the !nf-ants home.
Tsotetsi, who is une-mployed, said he felt ‘happy’ and ’emotional’ following the birth. According to iHarare.com, he said: “It’s seven boys and three girls.
She was seven months and seven days pregnant. I am happy. I am emotional. I can’t talk much. Let’s talk again in the morning please.” Halima Cisse set a new world record in May for multiple births after successfully delivering nine babies.
While it wasn’t the first time a woman had given birth to nine babies, the 25-year-old was the first woman to give birth to nine with all su*viv!ng. According to the New York Post, she had been only expecting to have seven babies.
Mali’s Health Minister Fanta Siby told Agence France-Presse after the record-br**king birth: “The mother and babies are doing well so f-ar.”
Doctors at the Ain Borja clinic in Casablanca, Morocco, later told the pr-ess agency that the premature siblings were expected to spend at least ‘two to three months’ in i*cubato*s’.