It was five years ago when I was called to the hospital's labor and delivery suite to take care of a patient carrying quintuplets. Though only 24 weeks pregnant, my patient was in premature labor. Despite vigorous attempts to stop her progress, she was about to bring into this world not one but five new human beings.
Moving her quickly to the delivery room, I knew we were in trouble because these five babies were four months premature and had only a one in five chance of survival. If they survived, each child would need intensive and expert care for an extended period of time in our newborn nursery.
Within minutes I was standing in my place, ready to deliver the first quintuplet. Gazing around the room I noticed the enormous amount of equipment and personnel in the delivery room. Each of the five newborn resuscitation tables brought to our arena of life and death had three newborn personnel waiting for their turn to receive one of the quintuplets. A certain amount of apprehension could easily be seen on their faces.
At the head of the patient's table were three anesthesia personnel prepared to do what was needed to bring this new litter of children into the world. Circulating around our place of birth were two obstetric nurses readying the room for our big event, and standing with me were three obstetric resident physicians.
One resident was constantly monitoring the small and fragile babies within the uterus with an ultrasound machine, while the other two stood fully scrubbed ready to aid me. Standing in the corner were two medical students, eyes wide open in absolute amazement at what they were about to witness. Finally, sitting quietly next to his wife was the father-to-be, starring with disbelief at the spectacle he had helped create.
Despite all of these people the room was relatively quiet. It was a quiet I had heard before....a quiet that said, "this is it - this is what our job is all about!"
One at a time, they began their journey down the birth canal. Head first, Stephen appeared, followed by his siblings - Stephanie, Clinton, Barbara and Christopher - each taking its turn to follow the next. As each child fell into my waiting arms, I carefully cut the umbilical cord and handed the child to a waiting pediatric team member.
Finally it was over. What seemed like an hour was in reality only a few minutes. I had just delivered five tiny human beings into this world. I was truly filled with awe and wonder.
While every birth can easily be described as awe-inspiring, after delivering more than 4,000 babies in my lifetime there can be a certain amount of routineness. But not this time. While I had delivered many twins and perhaps a dozen triplets in my career, I had never delivered quintuplets.
Since spontaneous occurrence of quintuplets is approximately one in 15 million pregnancies, it is an extraordinarily rare and unique event. We were all a part of nature's wonder. What a privilege and honor for us all.
But the human uterus is made for only one child at a time, and multiple births cause problems for both mother and babies. In this case, our excitement was soon followed by disappointment and sorrow as we helplessly watched Stephanie, Clinton, Barbara and Christopher lose the fight for life.
What I felt that night years ago went beyond mere awe and wonder. It included humility. Being a part of such an incredible event of nature can easily bring forth such a feeling. How small and insignificant we humans are in comparison to nature's wonder.
Not long ago the one surviving child, Stephen, a healthy, happy and loving child rushed into my arms when he saw me at the hospital. The feeling of humility quickly returned. It is the same humble feeling I felt while viewing up close the magnificent Niagara Falls with all it's incredible splendor.
(Frank H. Boehm, MD is a professor of OB/GYN and Director of OB at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, TN. He can be reached at his web site http://dr-boehm.com. Dr. Boehm resides in Boca).