Pretoria: A South African woman has given birth to 10 babies, breaking the world record held by Malian woman Halima Cisse who gave birth to nine children in Morocco in May. According to South African local media, Gosiame Thamara Sithole, 37, underwent a caesarian operation to give birth to seven boys and three girls making her the Guinness record-holder for the most children birthed by one woman at once.
Reports further indicate that the Sithole and her husband Teboho Tsotetsi were expecting eight babies but two babies had apparently missed the scan due to the fact that they were tucked inside the wrong tube.
“I am shocked by my pregnancy. It was tough at the beginning. I was sick. It was hard for me. It’s still tough but I am used to it now. I don’t feel the pain anymore, but it’s still a bit tough. I just pray for God to help me deliver all my children in a healthy condition, and for me and my children to come out alive. I would be pleased about it,” Sithole said told local media.
Speaking to the Pretoria News, Tsotetsi said Sithole gave birth to their bundles of joy 29 weeks into her pregnancy and that her pregnancy was natural as she was not on any fertility treatment. Sithole who also has six-year-old twins told journalists of the birth of the decuplets, saying he is 'happy' and 'emotional'.
In May, a Malian woman gave birth to nonuplets in Morocco, breaking the record held by an American woman, Nadya Suleman, who gave birth to eight babies in 2009. Reports show that only two other sets of nonuplets have been recorded since the 1970s, but the babies all died within days.
The South African woman said she was worried about her babies' well-being but was looking forward to meeting her children. "How would they fit in the womb? Would they survive? "What if they came out conjoined at the head, in the stomachs or hands? Like, what would happen? "I asked myself all these questions until the doctor assured me that my womb was starting to expand inside.
Professor Dini Mawela, of Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, said her case was rare and usually caused by fertility treatments before adding that the babies will spend the next few months in the incubator. "It’s quite a unique situation. I don’t know how often it happens. It’s extremely high risk (pregnancy). The danger is that, because there is not enough space in the womb for the children, the tendency is that they will be small. What would happen is that they would take them out pre-term because there is a risk if they keep them longer in there. The babies will come out small, chances of survival compromised. But all this depends on how long she carried them for."
