Egyptian Woman Gives Birth To Septuplets

[Bianca]

     








                                                   Egyptian woman gives birth to septuplets






By MAGGIE MICHAEL,
Associated Press Writer
Sat Aug 16, 2008
 
CAIRO, Egypt - A 27-year-old Egyptian woman gave birth to septuplets early Saturday in the coastal city of Alexandria, family members and the hospital director said.
 
Ghazala Khamis was in good condition after having a blood transfusion during her Caesarean section due to bleeding, said Emad Darwish, director of the El-Shatbi Hospital where she gave birth.

The newborns, four boys and three girls, weigh between 3.2 pounds and 6.17 pounds and are in stable condition, Darwish said. They have been placed in incubators in four different hospitals that have special premature baby units, he said.

"This is a very rare pregnancy — something I have never witnessed over my past 33 years in this profession," Darwish told The Associated Press by phone from the hospital.

Darwish decided to carry out the Caesarean section at the end of Khamis' eighth month of pregnancy due to the pressure on her kidneys. He said Khamis, who already has three daughters, took fertility drugs in an effort to have a son.

Khamis, the wife of a farmer in the northern Egyptian province of Beheira, was admitted to the hospital two months earlier, Darwish said.

"From the initial checkup, I say that none of the babies have any sort of deformities or incomplete organs," Darwish said.

The woman's brother, Khamis Khamis, said even though his sister was trying to conceive more children so she could have a son, the family was astonished when they found out she would give birth to multiple babies.

"We thought about an abortion, but then we felt it's religiously forbidden. So we said 'Let God's will prevail,'" he told the AP by phone.

Egypt's health minister announced that the seven babies will receive free milk and diapers for two years, the brother added.

[Bianca]

                                 Egyptian septuplets' mom hopes to hold them soon






By SALAH NASRAWI,
Associated Press Writer
Sun Aug 17, 2008
 
CAIRO, Egypt - A day after giving birth to septuplets, a 27-year-old Egyptian woman said Sunday she's only seen her babies on television and hopes to hold them and name them soon.
 
Ghazala Khamis was still hospitalized after giving birth a day earlier to four boys and three girls. She said she is "very anxious to see them" and to breast-feed at least some of them.

"I saw them on TV. They are very cute," she told The Associated Press from her hospital bed in the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria.

"I am just waiting to hold them in my arms and breast-feed them," she said in a weak voice. "I don't know if I can do it to all, but I will try."

Her husband and other relatives are brainstorming names, said Khamis, who took fertility drugs to conceive in an effort to produce a son. She is already the mother of three girls, ages 7 to 11.

The family lives in Beheira, a northern province on the fertile Nile River delta where, like much of rural Egypt, sons are preferred to daughters.

The newborns, who weigh between 2.3 and 4 pounds, are being kept in incubators but appear to be healthy, said Dr. Emad Darwish, who delivered the babies Saturday at El-Shatbi Hospital.

He said three remain at El-Shatbi while the other four have been sent to two other hospitals in Alexandria "because we do not have enough incubators."

"They are doing well, but they still need a lot of care," Darwish said.

Khamis was also in good condition, he said, after receiving a blood transfusion because of bleeding during a Caesarean section.

Darwish said he decided to perform a Caesarean at the end of the woman's eighth month of pregnancy due to pressure on her kidneys.

The babies' father is a farm worker who earns about $4 a day when he is employed, which is usually only a day or two each week, said Khamis' brother, whose name is Khamis Khamis.

He said Egypt's health minister has promised to give the babies free milk and diapers for two years, but the family is still worried about the long-term financial burden of feeding and taking care of a total of ten children.

"What they need most is a dwelling to live in. I hope the government will give them an apartment," Khamis said.

"With the help of Allah, they will make it, but I think it will be difficult," he said.