A rare birth of sextuplets (six infants) at the Castle Street Hospital for Women (CSHW) in Colombo was welcomed by Sri Lanka. The Director of the Castle
Father Isuru Perera
Street Hospital for Women Dr.Ajith Danthanarayana announced yesterday (17) morning that a 37-year-old woman from Ragama who was childless for six years has given birth to the six boys (sextuplets) on October 15.
Addressing the media on the birth of sextuplets at the Castle Hospital in Colombo, Neonatal Pediatrician Dr.Saman Kumara from the Castle Hospital for Women in Colombo said that the six prematurely born infants are on life support at present.
Castle Hospital’s Neonatal Pediatrician Dr. Saman Kumara has highlighted the unethical practice of some doctors during fertility treatment in Sri Lanka, citing the recent birth of sextuplets. Dr. Saman Kumara pointed out that it was ethical to place two fertilised eggs in the uterus during treatment, but some doctors place more than two fertilised eggs resulting in the birth of multiple infants at one birth, risking the lives of the children.
Providing an update on the infants, he said the sextuplets are currently receiving treatment in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), with five being treated at the hospital and one child being treated at the Colombo National Hospital.
“The infants are currently surviving on life support. They have been born prematurely at 26 weeks and are of less weight weighed between 400g to 700g at birth. We are able to provide the best treatment due to the availability of equipment and necessary medication,” he said. Dr. Saman Kumara said that the woman from Ragama who had birthed the children had been childless for 06 years after which she had undergone fertility treatment.
However, the failure to adhere to ethical practice by some doctors most often results in the infants being at risk due to premature birth, like this instance of the sextuplets that were born at the Castle Hospital, he said.
“Such births are not only risky but are a burden for the parents who are most often from low-income families, while hospitals also struggle to treat such infants, with the best treatment only possible on the availability of medication and equipment,” he said.
Dr. Saman Kumara also emphasized on the need for the regulation of fertility treatment to prevent such risks. The previous and the first ever sextuplet birth in Sri Lanka took place in October 2021 where three boys and three girls were born to a 31-year-old mother at Ninewells, a private hospital in Colombo.
Varuna Dayaratne