A 34-year-old Australian woman gave birth to identical quadruplets, an extraordinarily rare event in obstetrics. The four girls were delivered via caesarean section at 28 weeks and four days on 14 July at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital. The infants are monozygotic quadruplets, meaning they developed from a single fertilised egg that split into four embryos, and notably share the same placenta.
Dr. Alexa Bendall, the maternal foetal medicine specialist and obstetrician who managed the pregnancy, described the case as medically extraordinary. She estimated that identical quadruplets occur in approximately one in every 15 million pregnancies, and stated that sharing a single placenta among four babies is virtually unheard of. The pregnancy was classified as extremely high-risk, prompting hospital staff to admit the mother as an inpatient beginning at 25 weeks for close monitoring. Medical staff established 28 weeks as an optimistic target for delivery.
The mother, Jenitar Na’amoana, and her husband Jortham were surprised to learn they were expecting quadruplets, as they had not anticipated multiple births. According to Dr. Bendall, Na’amoana managed the demanding pregnancy without experiencing major complications for herself or her babies. The four girls have been named Emily, Harriet, Catherine, and Alexa, the latter being a tribute to Dr. Bendall. All four babies are currently residing in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit and are described as doing extremely well.
The parents already have four other children ranging in age from one to ten years old. Na’amoana recently launched an online fundraising campaign to help purchase a van with at least ten seats to accommodate the expanded family. The campaign has already received over A$37,000 in donations. In her fundraising message, Na’amoana noted that while the family is grateful for the safe arrival of the quadruplets, caring for four newborns simultaneously presents unexpected challenges. Naturally conceived quadruplets are estimated to occur in approximately one in 700,000 births.
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