TRIPLET PREGNANCY

It was November 1962; it was the second day of my new job at Benares Hindu University where; the government had just opened a new medical school. I and another doctor, from the same medical school were appointed as lecturers in obstetrics and gynaecology, after getting our masters of surgery qualifications in Obstetrics and gynaecology and under the supervision of a professor of surgery.

It was up to us to establish the department, attend to the paper work, and do whatever else was required. It was my second day in my new job. There was a registrar on duty in the department and she called me at about 5 am to come to the hospital urgently. An ambulance was sent to pick me up, which was the general rule because this way we were assured, that we would arrive very quickly. When I arrived in the labour ward, there was this woman Sitara Devi aged thirty-four in very strong labour, shouting and howling. This was her seventh pregnancy. She had six other children, all girls at home between the ages of twelve and two. She had never had any problems with any of her other pregnancies. They lived in a nearby village, her husband was a rickshaw driver, and they had decided to have a tubal ligation hoping that this baby surely would be a boy. She had never seen a doctor or a doula during this pregnancy. When I saw her she looked weak and emaciated what else could I expect. Her blood pressure was on the low side, she had an enormous belly. There was no time to measure it, we started her on an iv infusion in case she bled. In this hospital there was an x-ray department, but it was so early in the morning and there was no time for all this. I was sure that this was at least a twin Pregnancy with too much fluid; I was hoping that the babies were not abnormal. Within the next five minutes she delivered her first baby. This was a female weighing 4.6lbs. I was starting to wonder if there were three babies. I had never seen a triplet pregnancy the incidence of triplets is quoted as I in 60 000 or 1 in 200 million. They are now commoner with assisted technology. In the next ten minutes she delivered her second baby this was also a girl. I gave her an injection called syntocinon so that she will not bleed even though I was suspecting a third baby. It was very silly of me. This baby was lying with feet first which meant it was going to be a breach birth so I had to do a breech extraction. The baby came out in good condition; it was also a little girl. These babies were identical.  I felt very sad for the couple as they had wanted a boy but now had nine girls. l left the labour ward telling my registrar to deal with them Sitara did very well. She went home after 4 days with 3 new healthy girls. They did not have a tubal ligation hoping for a son in the future. Nearly 55 years down the track I still wonder about these girls. At medical school I had another Asha in my class who had 8 sisters. They came from a good family, they all became doctors. I wonder if any of these sisters made something of their lives.