Ethiopian woman gives birth to rare quintuplets after twelve-year wait
A 35-year-old woman gave birth to quintuplets at a hospital in Addis Ababa after 12 years trying to conceive. Mother and babies are in good condition, in a case that showcases Ethiopia's growing high-risk obstetric capacity.
The Caesarean section, performed at the private Aabid hospital in Addis Ababa, is one of the rarest obstetric cases recorded in the country in the past decade. The 35-year-old mother said she had been undergoing fertility treatment for 12 years. "I was praying for one baby, and I am overjoyed to be blessed with five at once," she told local press.
Doctors noted that quintuplet pregnancies happen roughly once in every 50 million births worldwide and are usually linked to assisted reproductive therapy. The babies were delivered early and remain in neonatal intensive care for monitoring. The mother is reported to be in stable condition following the surgery.
The case is being treated as a showcase for Ethiopia's plan, in place since 2021, to triple the number of neonatal intensive-care beds nationally. Health ministry officials say the next budget will fund similar capacity in regional hospitals outside Addis Ababa, where most high-risk births still travel to the capital for safe delivery.
More from Africa
WHO chief says hantavirus outbreak is not COVID, urges calm
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters that the hantavirus outbreak linked to a cruise ship off Cape Verde must not be confused with COVID-19. He stressed the virus does not spread person-to-person and that the outbreak risk is contained.
Mali junta leader names himself defence minister after predecessor killed
Mali's military junta leader has assumed the role of defence minister after his predecessor, Sadio Camara, was killed in a major offensive by combined jihadist and separatist forces.
Three Pakistani police officers killed in car bomb attack in northwest
A car bomb has killed three police officers and wounded at least six others in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Officials are investigating links to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, which has stepped up attacks along the western border in recent months.