An Australian woman has given birth to rare, naturally-conceived identical quadruplets after a pregnancy described as "extremely high risk" by the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.
Twice the typical panel of babies, the four girls were delivered via a Caesarean section on 14 July at 28 weeks and four days, arriving healthy and breathing in attached incubators.
The mother, 34‑year‑old Jenitar Na’amoana, and her husband Jortham, who already have four children, were taken by “immense surprise” when told to expect quadruplets. They quickly adapted, turning their clinic visits into a nation‑wide support network.
Dr. Alexa Bendall, a maternal foetal medicine specialist, explained the odds of identical quadruplets as about one in fifteen million pregnancies, and noted the shared placenta—a first in the country. “We always said that if we could get her to 28 weeks, we would be doing well,” she said.
The babies are named Emily, Harriet, Catherine, and Alexa—after Dr. Bendall—and currently live in the neonatal intensive care unit as they wait to reach full term. They have already brightened the lives of five siblings ranging from one to ten years.
In her post‑delivery post, the mother called her heart “overflowing with gratitude,” while noting challenges in caring for all four newborns at once. The story has triggered a fundraising effort that raised over A$37,000 (about £19,261) to buy a 10‑seat van to help transport the babies between hospital and home.
These naturally‑conceived quadruplets bring hope to expectant families, as the odds are estimated at one in 700,000 births. The Brisbane hospital continues to monitor the infants as they grow and as the family prepares for the new chapter in their lives.
