South African woman gives birth to 10 babies in Pretoria - reports

South African woman gives birth to 10 babies in Pretoria - reports

Gosiame Thamara Sithole, 37, was astonished by decuplets after scans only showed eight in the womb.

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A South African woman has reportedly given birth to 10 babies in what would be a new world record.

Gosiame Thamara Sithole's husband says they were astonished by decuplets after scans only showed eight in the womb.

"It's seven boys and three girls. I am happy. I am emotional. I can't talk much," her husband Teboho Tsotetsi told Pretoria News after the birth.
One South African official confirmed the births to the BBC, however another said they were yet to see the babies.

A family member, who did not want to be identified, told the BBC that Ms Sithole had had 10 babies - five via natural birth and 5 via caesarean section.

Guinness World Records told the BBC it was investigating Ms Sithole's case.

A woman who had eight babies in the US in 2009 currently holds the Guinness World Record for the most children delivered at a single birth to survive.

Last month, 25-year-old Halima Cissé from Mali gave birth to nine babies, who are reportedly doing well at a clinic in Morocco.

Most pregnancies involving large numbers of babies end prematurely, says BBC Africa's health reporter Rhoda Odhiambo.

Multiple births involving more than three babies are rare and often the result of fertility treatments - but in this case the couple say they conceived naturally.

Prayers and sleepless nights​

Ms Sithole, 37, previously gave birth to twins, who are now six years old.

She is said to be in good health after delivering 29 weeks into her pregnancy in Pretoria on Monday evening.

Speaking to Pretoria News a month ago, Ms Sithole said her pregnancy was "tough at the beginning" and she had prayed for a healthy birth, with many a sleepless night worrying about what was to come.

"How would they fit in the womb? Would they survive?" she asked herself, but was reassured by doctors that her womb was expanding.

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Most pregnancies involving large numbers of babies end prematurely
When it was thought she was carrying eight fetuses', Ms Sithole was suffering leg pains and doctors found that two of the eight "were in the wrong tube".

"That was sorted and I have been okay since then. I can't wait for my children," she told the newspaper at the time.

Her husband also said he was over the moon, and felt like "one of God's chosen children. It's a miracle which I appreciate".

 

[Slap47]

They're putting chemicals in the rains of Africa.

 

[Mariposa Electrique]

It's like the film Slither only the morons are letting the aliens stay.

 

[Hackallier]

THE PLOT THICKENS

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A South African Woman Claims She Gave Birth to a Record 10 Babies. Their ‘Dad’ Thinks It’s a Hoax.​

The father says he hasn’t seen so much as a photo of his 10 kids—and asked people to stop donating until they’re found.


Last week, a woman in South Africa claimed to have broken a world record by giving birth to a stunning 10 babies at once. Now, the alleged father and his family doubt they even exist.

Tebogo Tsotetsi, the boyfriend of mother Gosiame Sithole, released a statement Tuesday saying that, due to his inability to reach Sithole and verify her claims, he believes she didn’t give birth to 10 babies.

“The current uncertainties and public discourse about the decuplets is of major concern to the family,” the statement read, “especially in the absence of any proof of the decuplets existence other than telephonic and whatsapp messages from the mother.”

Earlier, Tsotetsi had asked people to stop donating money to both of them because Sithole won’t disclose where the children are.

In statements to Pretoria News, a local outlet in South Africa, Tsotetsi said the last time he saw Sithole was June 7, just before she was transported to Mediclinic Medforum Hospital with pains.

He received a WhatsApp text from her the next day letting him know she had given birth—with the help of four doctors, two gynecologists, and five nurses—to seven boys and three girls after 29 weeks of pregnancy.

But she followed that information up with a notice: He could not come to see them, as the hospital wasn’t allowing visitors due to COVID-19.

“I subsequently insisted that, as a father, I would like to come to the hospital to see our newly born children,” Tsotetsi said in his statement.

But that didn’t happen. Sithole told Tsotetsi that she was transferred to Steve Biko Academic Hospital for postnatal care and that she, too, had not seen the babies.

However, in statements to local media outlets, doctors from Mediclinic and Steve Biko said they did not deliver the babies and Sithole had not been treated there.

“We can confirm that none of our facilities were involved in the obstetric care of this patient or her decuplets,” a Mediclinic spokesperson told The Sunday Times.

The CEO of Steve Biko, Matabo Mathebula, called into The Clement Manyathela Show and said Sithole showed up to the medical center in regular clothes—sans children—and said she had given birth at Louis Pasteur Hospital. But a spokesperson for Louis Pasteur told the show Sithole had never been treated there.

Tsotetsi said that since Sithole hadn’t been seen in days, a missing persons case had been opened by his family. Fearing he would be the prime suspect if something had happened to her, Tsotetsi said he went to a lawyer’s office, where he wrote a message to Sithole asking for her location and for a picture of the babies.

“I really needed to see you but my priority is our safety,” he wrote in his message, according to his statement.

Sithole then sent him the address for Steve Biko hospital. She told him the babies were sent to an intensive care unit due to their premature birth, while Sithole was going to see a psychologist for counseling.

Tsotetsi said he made multiple efforts to reach the hospitals, but couldn’t visit Sithole or the babies. He said in his statement that he wants to know her location and a photo of all 10 babies. So far, she’s only sent him a picture of one child.

Since the birth, the only time Tsotetsi said he’s seen Sithole is from a selfie she sent him Friday. In that photo, she’s covered in a black-and-white, snowflake-patterned robe. She was not holding a child.

 

[verygayFrogs]

South African 10 babies story not true, inquiry finds​

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A claim that South African woman Gosiame Sithole gave birth to 10 babies earlier this month is not true, an official inquiry has found.

No hospitals in Gauteng province have a record of decuplets being born, the provincial government says.

Medical tests show that Ms Sithole had not even been pregnant recently, it said.


The 37-year-old is now being held under the mental health act for observation and will be provided with support.

The statement did not elaborate on the reasons behind the fabrication of the story.

• BBC Africa Live: Updates from the continent

Independent Online (IOL), the media group which owns the Pretoria News that first reported the story, had stood by its reporting.

It went on to allege that Ms Sithole delivered the children on 7 June at Steve Biko Academic Hospital (SBAH) in the capital, Pretoria, saying staff were ill prepared.

It accused the hospital and the provincial health authorities of trying to cover up medical negligence.

"These allegations are false, unsubstantiated and only serve to tarnish the good reputation of Steve Biko Academic Hospital and the Gauteng Provincial Government," the latest statement said.

Legal action would be taken against the editor-in-chief of Pretoria News, Piet Rampedi, and IOL, it said.

Where did the story come from?​

Ms Sithole, who has six-year-old twins, and her partner Teboho Tsotetsi lived in Thembisa, a township with many working-class residents in Gauteng province near Johannesburg.

According to IOL, they attended the same church as Rampedi where he was introduced to them in December. In May it is alleged he interviewed the couple who said they were expecting eight babies - a photoshoot shows Ms Sithole looking heavily pregnant.

The birth of a surprise 10 babies was announced by Pretoria News on 8 June quoting Mr Tsotetsi as the source. He later said he had received text messages from his partner telling him about it, adding he was not allowed at the hospital because of coronavirus restrictions.

Rampedi also relied on WhatsApp messages - and did not get independent confirmation from the hospital of the story.

Their local mayor then confirmed the births - which is when other outlets, including the BBC, published the story - but a government spokesman later said the politician only had the family's word and no-one had yet seen the babies.

Donations began flooding in for the couple and their reported babies, dubbed the "Thembisa 10", including 1m rand ($70,000; £50,000) from IOL chairman Iqbal Survé.

But the story drew suspicion after Pretoria News initially failed to disclose the hospital where the babies were born and a series of hospitals in Gauteng came out to deny their involvement.

Ten days after the alleged births, IOL made the accusations against SBAH.

The couple seemed to fall out in the aftermath with Mr Tsotetsi reporting her missing and asking people to stop donations a week later, while Ms Sithole accused him of wanting to benefit financially from the babies, the Pretoria News reported.

Meanwhile social workers managed to track down Ms Sithole and she was admitted to hospital for tests last Friday, the Gauteng provincial authorities say.

A leaked memo seen by News24 alleges that Rampedi has recently apologised to IOL for "the reputational damage" the story has caused the group, saying he should have treated it more like an investigative piece rather than a "feel-good story".