In brief
A 34‑year‑old mother, Jenitar Na'amoana, delivered four identical quadruplet girls in Brisbane after a high‑risk pregnancy monitored since 25 weeks. The babies, named Emily, Harriet, Catherine and Alexa, were born via C‑section at 28 weeks and four days, and are currently thriving in the neonatal intensive care unit. With rare naturally conceived quadruplets estimated at one in 700,000 births, the family is already famous for their six‑child household and has launched a fundraiser to assist them with logistical needs.
A 34‑year‑old mother, Jenitar Na'amoana, of Brisbane has given birth to a rare natural set of identical quadruplet girls after a pregnancy that the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital called “extremely high risk.”
The four babies—named Emily, Harriet, Catherine and Alexa—were delivered via caesarean section at 28 weeks and four days on 14 July. Their mother and her husband, Jortham, had already had four other children, and they were “taken by immense surprise” when told to expect quadruplets.
Dr Alexa Bendall, a maternal‑fetal medicine specialist who oversaw the pregnancy from the start, warned that identical quadruplets are about one in every 15 million pregnancies, and the chance that all share a single placenta is unheard of. She admitted the mother was admitted to the hospital’s intensive care unit at 25 weeks to monitor her and the fetus.
Bendall said the mother had “dodged every complication and risk for both herself and her babies,” and that the delivery of four healthy girls at 28 weeks is “incredible.” The babies remain in the neonatal intensive care unit until they reach full term and are currently doing extremely well.
The parents’ other children range from one to ten years old. After the birth, Na’amoana launched an online fundraising campaign to buy a van with at least ten seats for family transport, and the fundraiser has already raised over A$37,000 (£19,261). She wrote, “Our four precious miracles have arrived safely, and while our hearts are overflowing with gratitude, the reality of caring for four newborns at once has brought challenges we never could have imagined.”
Naturally conceived quadruplets are extremely rare in the general population, with doctors estimating the odds at about one in 700,000 births.
