Australian mum, 34, gives birth to quadruplet babies in extremely rare way

Doctors have described the circumstances surrounding one woman's labour as 'unheard of'.

Australian mum Jenitar Sau Na'amoana, 34, gave birth to quadruplets on 14 July at Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital in Queensland.

She and husband Jortham hadn't relied on fertility treatment, and welcomed their beautiful babies - four girls - naturally. The couple were already parents to four children aged from one to 10.

Given the extreme circumstances of her pregnancy, however, Na'amoana was monitored regularly until being admitted to hospital at 25 weeks.

During Na'amoana's caesarean section three weeks later, however, doctors made a staggering realisation.

They soon noticed that the four baby girls had been sharing the same, single placenta since their conception, as opposed to one each.

The babies are still being cared for at the NICU (Metro North Health)

Dr Alexa Bendall, the fetal medicine specialist who cared for Na'amoana, later declared in a video shared by the hospital: "Monozygotic [or identical] quadruplets are estimated at 1 in every 15 million pregnancies, but to share the same placenta, this is unheard of."

The placenta is a temporary organ that develops during pregnancy. It acts as the baby's lifeline, serving as a substitute for their lungs, kidneys, liver, and digestive tract, as well as delivering oxygen and nutrients, filtering out waste products, producing vital hormones, and passing on immunity

Describing the case as the first of its kind, Dr Bendall continued: "We have never seen a spontaneously conceived pregnancy of this type with quads.

"[Na'amoana] has somehow dodged every complication and risk for both herself and her babies to be here today, with four gorgeous newborn girls."

Asked why the mother-of-eight's c-section occurred so far off Na'amoana being full-term (40 weeks), Dr Beldall explained: "We always said that if we could get her to 28 weeks, we would be doing well.

The four babies are all doing 'extremely well', their obstetrician said (Metro North Health)

"So the fact that we've got four beautiful, healthy babies born at 28 weeks and four days is incredible, and we're very happy to be a part of it," she added.

The couple's four daughters are currently being kept at the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit, but are doing 'extremely well', the medic added.

Na'amoana and her husband have given their babies the names Emily, Harriet, Catherine and Alexa, the latter of whom has been named after Dr Bendall.

The obstetrician described the move as a 'beautiful tribute'.

To provide context to the history-making case, only 144 quadruplet births were recorded in total in the US in 2024 (as per the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention), and in each of these cases, the babies had relied on their own respective placentas.

The family have since launched a fundraiser in the hope of purchasing themselves a vehicle with enough seats to transport the hefty brood.

The mother-of-eight has launched a fundraiser (GoFundMe)

Na'amoana wrote in the description of the page (which has already hit over $37,000 AUD in donations): "Our four precious miracles have arrived safely, and while our hearts are overflowing with gratitude, the reality of caring for four newborns at once has brought challenges we never could have imagined."