A Ugandan woman who became one of the world’s oldest new mothers when she gave birth to a boy and a girl at age 70 finally returned home six weeks later and introduced the world to the “miracle” babies.
Safina Namukwaya gave birth to the couple via Caesarean section on November 29 at the International Women’s Hospital and Fertility Center in the capital of Kampala, where she had been receiving in vitro fertilization treatment.
The hospital called it a “miracle at age 70” and posted photos of the smiling mother and her new babies when she was finally able to take them home on Saturday.
“At 70, Safina Namukwaya’s motherly love turns into a miracle, cradling twins alongside Dr. Edward Tamale-Sali,” reads the caption of a photo shared on the hospital’s Facebook page.
“In her hands are not only babies, but also gems of hope, proving that a mother’s love transcends time and age.”
The smiling Namukwaya is seen clutching one bundle of joy while the doctor holds the other.
Safina Namukwaya, the 70-year-old Ugandan woman who defied the odds and gave birth to twins, has brought them home for the first time after her cesarean section. International Women’s Hospital and Fertility Center
“She can’t stop looking at them,” Tamale-Sali told TODAY.com about Namukwaya, adding that she is a “loving” and “playful” mother to her two babies, named Shakira Babiyre Nabagala and Kato Shafique Kangave.
The doctor also announced on the program that she will be known in her village as Nalongo, which means mother of twins, while her husband, Walusimbi Badru, will be called Salongo, or father of twins.
Before welcoming her first child three years ago, Namukwaya said she had been labeled a “cursed woman” in her village for not getting pregnant.
At a news conference outside the hospital on Saturday, Tamale-Sali recalled how Namukwaya was awake on roughly the same day she gave birth to the twins, and joked that she’s “almost playing football now,” Today.com reported.
Namukwaya received in vitro fertilization treatment with a donor egg and her partner’s sperm. International Women’s Hospital and Fertility Center
“She is fit, her blood pressure is normal, she is not diabetic; she is a very healthy woman and all of Africa is happy for her,” he said.
“If you want another child, we are here,” the doctor told Naumukwaya, half joking.
Dr. Gloria Lunyolo, the twins’ pediatrician, described them as “miracle babies” and said they alternate between formula and breast milk.
Namukwaya, who also has a 3-year-old daughter, told TODAY.com two days after giving birth that she felt “great.”
Shakira Babiyre Nabagala and Kato Shafique Kangave weigh more than 5 pounds each.
“Some might argue that 70 years is old, but God decided that I would have twins at 70. There is no one who can put a limit on God’s authority and power,” she told the outlet.
“Some families will help me wash myself and the babies because of my advanced age,” she said, adding that pregnancy at her age was not an easy task and that she sometimes felt very sick because of it.
Due to her age, Namukwaya used donor eggs and her husband’s sperm.
“We implanted four embryos and then, of course, she conceived the twins,” Tamale-Sali previously told TODAY.com.
The twins were born prematurely at 31 weeks of gestation and were placed in incubators.
The American Society for Reproductive Medicine states that embryo transfer “is not recommended in women over 55 years of age.”
Dr. Brian Levine, practice director at New York City fertility clinic CCRM, told TODAY.com that it is “irresponsible” to get a 70-year-old woman pregnant.
Namukwaya had her first child when she was in her sixties, also with the help of IVF treatment. International Women’s Hospital and Fertility Center
“Data shows that women who give birth after age 50 have elevated rates of hypertension, gestational diabetes and preterm birth,” Levine told the outlet.
“If a 70-year-old has a blood clot, has a stroke or a heart attack, children will be delayed developmentally and possibly physically. And who will take care of these medically fragile children when their parents die? he said.
But Tamale-Sali said he did not hesitate to treat Namukwaya because “it is his human right. It’s her body. “She is in good physical shape.”
This is not the first time that a woman beyond the traditional childbearing age has become a mother.
In 2019, a 73-year-old woman in South India gave birth to twin girls after receiving IVF care.
Categories: Trending
Source: vtt.edu.vn