RI's first quintuplets in great shape<\/p>\n
BANDUNG (JP): Indonesia's first quintuplets turned three days
\nold yesterday and are doing great, to the delight of their
\nparents and doctors at Borromeus Hospital, where they were born
\nand are being treated.<\/p>\n
\"They are fine, and the mother is too. Even baby number four,
\nwho had a respiratory problem common to premature babies, is
\ndoing well,\" said hospital director Albert I. Hendarta.<\/p>\n
The babies have also started to learn to feed from a bottle.<\/p>\n
\"We give them 10 bottle feeds a day; each one is as much as
\n12.5 cc,\" said one of the 14 nurses in the hospital's Neonatal
\nIntensive Care Unit (NICU), where the babies are being cared for.<\/p>\n
The babies have still to be named. The doctors and nurses who
\ntreat them call them all Adik, meaning little brother or sister.<\/p>\n
\"They have yet to receive an answer from the President and we
\nwould like to help,\" said Agnes Novijanti Puspita, the hospital's
\npublic relations manager.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday the baby's father, Hastadi Wahyu, a 32-year old
\nemployee of the state-owned Telkom telecommunications company,
\nsaid he would be grateful if President Soeharto named the babies.<\/p>\n
The quintuplets, two boys and three girls, were born in the
\n32nd week of Ellydawaty's pregnancy at one-minute intervals
\nduring a 45-minute cesarean section operation.<\/p>\n
Initially the team of doctors, obstetricians\/gynecologists
\nEddy Haswidi and Duddy Natraprawira, pediatricians Kelly Surya
\nChandra and Sandjaja Soetadji, and anesthetists Marsudi Rasman
\nand Tato Purwaganda, decided to perform a cesarean section on the
\nmother, Ellydawaty, in the 34th week of pregnancy.<\/p>\n
According to Albert, in cases of quintuplets it is very risky
\nto wait for the babies to come out naturally.<\/p>\n
\"As they get bigger, they will not feel comfortable in their
\nmother's womb. They will fight for space and food, and one or two
\nof them will lose the competition and may die,\" Albert explained.<\/p>\n
\"It is safe to wait and let twins be born at the normal
\ngestation age, but even with triplets, the risk is greater, let
\nalone with quintuplets,\" Eddy Haswidi added.<\/p>\n
The cesarean section was performed two days into Ellydawaty's
\n32nd week of pregnancy week because her water broke, said Albert.<\/p>\n
According to Eddy, it is still too early to link the
\nquintuplets with the fact that Ellydawaty had been treated with a
\ncertain brand of fertility pills.<\/p>\n
\"I have treated a lot of women with such fertility pills and
\nthey did not give birth to twins,\" Eddy said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile Sandjaja Soetadji, one of the two pediatricians in
\ncharge of the post-natal treatment, said he believed the babies
\nhad passed the worst.<\/p>\n
\"And as they are doing really well their treatment will not be
\ntoo complicated or expensive,\" said Sandjaja, who once helped a
\nquintuplet cesarean in Bonn, Germany.<\/p>\n
The most common problem faced by premature babies is
\nrespiratory problem.<\/p>\n
But the problem was reduced in Ellydawaty's case as Sandjaja
\ngave her special pills to help the babies' lungs mature during
\nher pregnancy.<\/p>\n
Given the babies' healthy condition, Sandjaja is optimistic
\nthat the cost of treating the babies in the NICU, which is
\nnormally Rp 350,000 per baby per day, will be lower.<\/p>\n
\"They will have to remain in the NICU for at least two
\nmonths,\" he said. (lem)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ris-first-quintuplets-in-great-shape-1447893297",
"image": ""
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