National Hospital Abuja (NHA) has discharged the sextuplets delivered in the hospital on Jan 30, by Mrs Precious Nwachukwu after 13 years of marriage.
The chief medical director (CMD) of National Hospital Abuja, Prof. Muhammad Mahmud, while handing the babies over to the parents and other helpers, said that the successful delivery of the babies and their care was a good feat recorded by the hospital.
He said that the babies had gone through certain stages of care to ensure that they were healthy, adding that they were given the best chances of survival by the neonatal unit of the hospital.
“The doctors and nurses stood by these children and one amazing thing was the fact that they had to increase the staffing of this facility to ensure that these children really have the best chances to survive.
“The least weight of these children was at 850 grams and within this one month the one with the lowest weight had gotten to 1,300 grams, that’s 1.3 kg and one of them got up to two kg,” said Mahmud.
The CMD also applauded the family for keeping hope alive all these years and pushing themselves in spite of all the challenges they encountered.
He commended the philanthropists who had come to assist the family, adding that the family still needs more support from all Nigerians to be able to properly take care of the children the way they should be cared for.
The chief consultant neonatologist, Dr Mariya-Mukhtar Yola, said that birthing and caring for sextuplets was indeed one of the rarest occasions the unit has had.
She said at birth, all the babies had special health challenges, thereby needing respiratory support, and support with sugar levels, temperature, feeding, blood and even infection prevention.
“There are still a lot of challenges ahead, because they are going to be needing more medication, some blood transfusions along the way. So they still need a lot of support from people and well-wishers,” she added.
The father of the babies, Mr Ifeanyi Nwachukwu, appreciated the hospital for caring for the wife from four months into the pregnancy up till delivery and then taking care of the babies who were pre-term till they were fit to be discharged.
He also appreciated well-meaning Nigerians who have come to support them, adding that more was still needed to bring the children up.
