Niël Terblanché
ALMOST a week after they were born, the Kalume quintuplets are slowly starting to win their battle for survival and getting stronger with every hour that passes.
The five babies were born almost three months prematurely and had to spend the first few days of their lives in an incubation machine while doctors and nurses monitored every aspect of their lives around the clock.
Their mother, Hilia Kalume said that she has been spending every hour of the past week with her five babies although she had been discharged from the hospital at the start of the week.
She said that as the babies get stronger their ability to breathe on their own, is improving.
Kalume said that the oxygen supply to four of the infants is slowly being reduced as their ability to breathe improves. The fifth baby is still struggling a little bit and still has to receive the full oxygen supply.
“Other than that, all five of my babies are healthy and getting stronger,” she said.
Kalume said the doctors advised her to spend as much time as possible with the quintuplets to help the medical staff in taking care of them.
She indicated that their fight for survival is far from over because they will have to spend at least 20 weeks in hospital before they will be able to go home.
The birth of the five infants last Tuesday was a historic occasion for Namibia because they are the first quintuplets of the country.
