A woman in Houston defied the odds and celebrated the arrival Friday of sextuplets. The Woman's Hospital of Texas announced, via social media, that Thelma Chiaka welcomed sextuplets on in the wee hours of the morning.
The hospital’s staff wrote in a Facebook post, “Did you know that the odds of having sextuplets are estimated at one in 4.7 billion? We were honored to welcome Thelma Chiaka's four sons and two daughters early this morning.”
Chiaka delivered two sets of twin boys and one set of twin girls in less than 10 minutes. Her children were all born between 4:50 and 4:59 a.m.
Her pregnancy and delivery defied the odds of 1 in 4.7 billion. Reportedly, there is a greater chance to be struck by lightning twice (1 in 9 million) or even winning the lottery (1 in 302 million) than it is to give birth to sextuplets.
The newborns' weights range in size from 1 pound, 12 ounces and 2 pounds, 14 ounces. All six of Chiaka's sextuplets are listed in stable condition and receiving care at the hospital’s advanced neonatal intensive-care unit.
As for the Chiaka, she shared a bright smile in a picture alongside the hospital staff who assisted in her labor and delivery.
The new mom named her daughters Zina and Zuriel. She has not revealed the names she chose for her sons.
The Woman’s Hospital of Texas claims to deliver more babies than any other hospital in the state.
According to Verywellfamily.com, the average gestation for a sextuplet pregnancy is 29.1 weeks, as opposed to 40 weeks for a full-term baby.
Women pregnant with sextuplets are estimated to gain between 40-100 pounds over the course of their pregnancy. The family blog claims nearly all sextuplet pregnancies result in a cesarean delivery; with only three cases of natural delivery of sextuplets.
Nearly all sextuplets require a stay in a hospital's neonatal intensive-care unit for several weeks to months after their births.
