Safina Namukwaya, a 70-year-old woman and resident of Masaka district, gave birth to healthy twins on Wednesday.
Namukwaya gave birth to a boy and a girl through cesarean delivery. Her twins weighed 2 kilograms each when she gave birth at 34 weeks.
“We’ve achieved the extraordinary – delivering twins to Africa’s oldest mother aged 70!” the Women’s Hospital International and Fertility Centre (WHI&FC) posted on their Facebook page.
The hospital revealed that Namukwaya conceived through In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). During in vitro fertilization, mature eggs are collected from ovaries and fertilized by sperm in a lab. Then a procedure is done to place one or more of the fertilized eggs, called embryos, in a uterus, which is where babies develop.
Typically, women go through menopause between the ages of 45 and 55. Fertility drops around this time, but advances in medicine have made it possible for them to give birth.
Reports indicate that Namukwaya had wanted to have children after she was mocked for being childless. She had her first child, a baby girl, in 2020.
Speaking in an interview with the Daily Monitor newspaper, Namukwaya disclosed that her recent pregnancy had been difficult as her partner abandoned her when he realized she was going to have twins.
“Men don’t like to be told that you are carrying more than one child. Ever since I was admitted here, my man has never showed up,” she said.
The hospital took responsibility for looking after her until she delivered.
“We decided to operate on her as she could no longer carry the weight of the two babies given her advanced age,” said one of the doctors.
Both the mother and the two babies are in good health.