A 25-year-old Indian woman who went into labor Saturday despite being less than seven months pregnant feared she was about to relive the tragedy of delivering a stillborn baby that she went through two years ago, Stuff.co.nz reports.
Instead, Manita Singh was surprised to deliver a set of very premature quintuplets. She was unaware she was carrying five babies because she and husband Mahesh were unable to afford an ultrasound.
“I am extremely grateful to God for blessing us with not one but five children,” the Inquisitr quotes Mahesh as saying. “I believe God has compensated the loss” of the couple’s first child, he adds.
The couple has named the girls Jiya, Jjanv, Jyoti, Jigayasa, and Janya. A priest had advised them to start each name with the letter “J,” the Times of India reports. But it’s not all good news for what doctors say are likely India’s “most premature” quintuplets ever.
The Times of India reported the babies weigh between 2.2. and 3.3 pounds each and are being kept in intensive care because of their low birth weights. Four of the babies are suffering from jaundice. One hospital executive warns the survival rate for such premature babies is “abysmally low.”
If they survive, the quintuplets will receive financial support from the government. Manita and Mahesh live in a single room and have the equivalent of $7.50 in their bank account. Mahesh says he hopes his new children survive and that he can provide them with a “wonderful life.”
