Healthy quints born in Annapolis: ‘It couldn’t have gone better’
More than 35 doctors and staff at Anne Arundel Medical Center conducted twice-weekly meetings, ran four mock deliveries and had every piece of equipment color-coded and ready for any potential complication.
“The amount of work that went into this … everyone in the hospital was involved,” said Dr. Joseph Morris, obstetrical hospitalist at the medical center in Annapolis.
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The countless hours of preparation paid off Dec. 2 when a healthy set of quintuplets — the first in the hospital’s 106-year history — was born. The last set of quintuplets (five babies) born in Maryland was in 2005, and fewer than 70 births of five or more babies occur each year in the United States.
“The delivery itself went fantastically. It couldn’t have gone better,” Dr. William Sweeney, maternal-fetal medicine specialist who deals with high-risk pregnancies, said at a news conference Tuesday.
The mother, Adwai Malual, 28, is a native of Sudan with family living in the area. She came to the United States in her fourth month of pregnancy and was referred to the Anne Arundel Medical Center by the health department.
Morris said he wasn’t sure if Malual had fertility treatments, saying he couldn’t comment on her pregnancy before her arrival to the medical center.
Malual carried the babies until their 30th week of gestation, nearly three weeks longer than the average for quintuplets, which helped ensure the babies were born healthy.
The four girls, named Nyantweny, Nyandeng, Abyei and Athei, and one boy, named Deng, weighed between 2 and 3 pounds each. None required oxygen or intravenous injections, said neonatologist Suzanne Rindfleisch.
“At this point, they really just need to grow and thrive,” she said. “They are well on their way to discharge.”
Although Malual, who is not a U.S. citizen, doesn’t have health insurance, the medical center staff didn’t hesitate to take her on as a patient, officials said.
Sweeney “opened his arms and heart without thinking of the charges,” said Malual’s mother, Anne Abyei, who gave a statement at the news conference.
“Adwai said she’s never experienced such love, and she will remember everything.”
Doctors described Malual, who was home recovering, as a strong and confident patient, who insisted on walking to the operating room rather than riding in a wheelchair.
“She went through this with a grace and elegance that’s hard to find elsewhere,” Morris said.
You can help
In their first week at home, the Malual babies will need:
10 packs of disposable diapers
25 bottles
40 sets of clothing and hundreds of baby wipes.
Anne Arundel Medical Center is accepting support for the Malual
family, and donations such as blankets, diapers and formula may be delivered
between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to the AAMC Clothes Box, located on the first
floor of the Sajak Pavilion, 2002 Medical Parkway in Annapolis.
