Tag: quadruplets

For five years, they were childless but through Assisted Reproductive Conception (ARC), they became parents of a set of quadruplets. What is supposed to be a blessing has become a financial burden to the couple writes OYEYEMI GBENGA-MUSTAPHA.

Five years after her wedding she was yet to have a baby. To her family and in-laws, she was percieved barren. To them, she was almost becoming a scorn. But her husband was unflinching in his support for her; he stoutly stood by her. Mrs Adenike Akintola’s story is a proof of how courage, faith and understanding between couple aided medicine.

At 31, she got all the children she could have got, in probably 10 years, in one delivery. On May 23 this year, she was delivered of a set of quadruplets-three girls and a boy.

How she went about it is likely to be the next question people would ask. A relative last year introduced her to Assisted Reproductive Conception (ARC). She wasted no time and proceeded to Medical ART Centre, a health facility that specialises in Assisted Reproductive Conception (ARC), especially IVF and managed by the renowned fertility expert, who pioneered the technique of IVF and Embryo transfer with the foremost Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Prof Osato Giwa-Osagie in West Africa in 1983 and 1984, which was called test-tube baby at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, Lagos.

Mrs Akintola and her husband, Ajibola, 40, started treatment in August last year with series of investigations conducted on them. The tests included a diagnosis of primary infertility due to Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCO). Two months after, the Fallopian Tube Sperm Perfusion (FTSP) otherwise known as artificial insemination, a method of assisted conception was done on her. Two weeks after, she was confirmed pregnant through Beta HCG (bHCG) pregnancy test.

When she was finally delivered of her pregnancy last May 23, Mrs Adetola had a set of quadruplets (three girls and a boy) weighing: 1.35Kg; 1.25Kg; 1.2Kg and 0.9Kg respectively. They are alive and being taken care of at the Neonatal unit of Medical ART Maternity Suite, with each of them receiving attention with specialised ventilators, respirators, incubators and light phototherapy sets and monitors.

Narrating her experience, the joyful mother of four said: “As a couple, the first year to the fourth year, we tried. We went through a lot, with different doctors attending to us and not finding anything wrong with us. They said we were okay. I will describe myself as a strong believer and through the pregnancy period I did not doubt God for safe delivery. I enjoy my husband’s support. He spent all his savings on the pregnancy and the delivery,” she said.

According to her, the way her prayers were answered was beyond her imaginations. “It is true I was once praying and looking for a way to conceive, but I never thought of having four babies at once. What I did was Fallopian Tube Sperm Perfusion, otherwise known as artificial insemination. I came back to the hospital after two weeks for test and I was confirmed positive through pregnancy test,” she said.

She said a week after she was discovered pregnant she went for another scan which initially showed twin gestation. The seventh week scan however, showed a different result; triplet gestation. But a shocker was waiting for her, a week after, she was discovered to be carrying quadruplets. “About seven doctors did the scanning on me to be sure that they were seeing the right thing and hearing four heartbeats. They all said ‘wow, God has really blessed you’,” she said, adding: “I burst into tears because of sundry reasons. I could not believe that after four years God has blessed me with four children at a time.”

However, coming with the bundle of joy for the Adetolas is the task of taking care of the babies, which the couple said is overwhelming. “Thoughts of how to cater for them flooded my mind. I was torn between many emotions. Knowing that my husband is working with a one-man business, and the reality of the economy of the country and my business hit me hard,” she said.

She continued: “Now we have issues settling further bills incurred. This is because the quadruplets are so small; they have to be in the incubators. And I will not be able to go back to my trading immediately. So, I will need a whole lot of assistance from good spirited people.”

“Aside,” she added, “the debt I incurred through treatment for eight months, the proper monitoring and obstetrics care for high risk multiple pregnancies and the eventual delivery is huge.”

Her husband, Ajibola, was philosophical about it. “I gave my wife all the support to achieve this pregnancy that turned us out to be parents of quadruplets.  We got to know about this centre through a very close relative of mine. We underwent screenings, tests and treatments. And we were proven ok. The Prof Ashiru led team said it won’t go by the different tests results with us done in various places we’d gone to. They said they would prefer to conduct theirs. They discovered my wife can produce egg and is fertile and that we did not need IVF. We did not do IVF. We were advised on an option which we were not hitherto aware of and we now have four babies at once. I am grateful to God,”he said.

He continued: “I am a strong believer in God. And I believe the treatment won’t fail so one month after the treatment, I asked my wife if she had seen her period and she said no. I was elated and we resolved to have it confirmed by the medics and that prepared me for the spending. So when it was confirmed by the doctors through scanning and we were told it is quadruplets.

“Though I prepared for conception, but the news jolted me, I did not prepare for four. God is wonderful. I just gathered myself and reasoned that what is the point of keeping money in the bank should I lose this pregnancy. So I started spending all my savings to ensure my pregnant wife delivered safely. And now that the quads have arrived, I am financially handicapped. As an African man, it is not in our culture to do this, but it is better to let fellow humans be aware of how they can help out than for me to lose my wife or any of the quadruplets.

“I recall some of the mockeries I went through, when some people with children will address you anyhow. I thank my family for supporting me and my wife before during and after the conception. They showed a lot of understanding and maturity, especially to my wife.”

His advice: “Many people that are still trusting God for the fruits of the womb should not be discouraged to explore available options. ARC is affordable. People generally believe assisted reproduction is expensive, but because it is an option I settled for it. Assuming it failed that is when I can start to think of its being expensive. I will also say IVF is not the only option in ARC. As a couple, we set out thinking that it was what we could access, but another option was given to us.

“Men should not streamline if infertility is in the family. The husband should summon courage. Most men will think spending on ARC will hinder some other commitments, but joy of laughter of babes in a home is better experienced than imagined. Conception is worth it and deserves to be explored rather than spend on frivolities. There is hope in ARC. I always browse on the names of multiple pregnancies and curious to know more about them.”

Mr Akintola, however, appealed for assistance. “I work with a sole business owner. Ideally, I’m capable as a family man because I work, but with a quadruplet, it is a different ball game. I desire a quality life for them. I solicit governments, individuals, corporate organisations and multinationals to assist me. What I have now to contend with include hospital bills, feeding and general upkeep. And as they grow, I cannot say you eat and not feed the other nor enroll one in school and stop the other.  That is intensive capital spending. If there is a way good people can help out, I will warmly appreciate.”

Are you willing to help? The couple can be reached at LOFOM House, 21 Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way, Leventis Bus Stop, Opposite Ikeja Military Cantonment, Maryland, Lagos, Nigeria. Or A/c no: First Bank, Adenike Akintola  3049936624.

A 32-year-old petty trader, Mrs Nkiru Ezeugwu, has given birth to quadruplets at the Mother of Christ Hospital, Enugu, the Enugu State capital.

Mrs Ezeugwu, who hails from Opi in Nsukka Local Government Area of the state, was delivered of the quadruplets – two boys and two girls on Monday.

The babies were yesterday kept in an incubator in the hospital, a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent who visited the nursing mother reports.

The babies came from her first pregnancy, Mrs Ezeugwu said: They were delivered through a caesarian section after some complications.

She appealed for help from well-meaning Nigerians to enable her settle her hospital bills and cater for the babies.

“My husband is a commercial driver and he alone cannot afford to pay the bills.

“I had these children through caesarian section and the bill is too much for us. God knows why He gave me four babies at a time,” Mrs Ezeugwu said.

The Administrator of the hospital, Dr Mary-Ignatia Okafor, said the woman went through surgery twice following some health complications.

“She was operated on twice because we discovered that she had fibroid and was bleeding profusely,’’ she said.

The administrator, who is also a reverend sister, implored public-spirited individuals and groups to assist the family as they could not afford the bills.

“The children are in the incubator and they need money to buy drugs as well as feed the babies,” she said.

The joy of Mrs Olufunmilayo Ogwanighie knew no bound when she had quadruplets last year. But the stress of taking care of the four babies who will turn one on Saturday is giving her headache. She is appealing to Nigerians for assistance. WALE ADEPOJU reports

They will be one on Saturday, but raising them has not been easy. The joy their mother felt at their birth is being overshadowed by the stress of taking care of them.

Mrs Olufunmilayo Ogwani-ghie made history in her family and community when she gave birth to the quadruplets on February 1, last year. Since then, she has been toiling to meet their needs.

At her 32, Olorunlogbon Street, Anthony, Lagos home, she relived how difficult it has been raising Dorcas, David, Daniel and Divine.

Mrs Ogwanighie, 33, a medical radiographer, said: “It was such a wonderful but difficult journey. Breast feeding four babies is not an easy task. Thank God, they didn’t do that for long. To imagine that breast milk didn’t flow sometimes as it should is not nice.”

She said though life has been wonderful, it has also been challenging. “Coming home to meet the foursome is very interesting. At the early stage, it wasn’t easy to deal with tolerance in the environment. There was a time one of them was ill. We started running from pillar to post,” she added

Mrs Ogwanighie said to get a stable nanny was also a problem, adding: “One will take the job today and by tomorrow disappears. Thanks to my husband’s cousin, Miss Kesiena Emete, who usually comes in to lend a hand. When eventually I got stable ones, I had to pay for three staff to help with the kids. But I only have two at the moment. Initially, we had a nurse, who comes in frequently to check on them,” she said.

Mrs Ogwanighie said she spends about N100,000 on diapers monthly. “What about disposable bibs, wet wipes and even meals. They were all not easy to come by,” she said.

She said all efforts to get the Lagos State Government to help failed. Her requests were not replied, she claimed.

“The non-governmental organisations (NGOs) could not help too because they are into investment,” she said.

Mrs Ogwanighie urged well-meaning Nigerians to come to her aid. Help can be sent to her through Ogwanighie Funmilayo Blessing, Keystone Bank A/C No: 6005592650.