NASSIRIYA, Iraq (Reuters) -
A woman has given birth to rare
sextuplets in southern Iraq, but two of them died because the
hospital lacked the proper equipment to keep them alive, her
doctor said on Saturday.

Some Iraqi media described it as the first birth of
sextuplets — six children born at once — in the country,
although this could not be verified.

Sextuplet births are extremely rare although fertility
treatments have increased the frequency of multiple births.

“Two of the children died because of problems breathing,”
said Dr Ali al-Jabiri, in charge of premature infants at
Al-Habboubi Hospital in the southern Iraqi city of Nassiriya.

“If we had suitable medical equipment then we could have
saved them,” he added.

The babies all weighed between 700 and 1,200 grams (24-44
ounces). Two boys and two girls survived. Their mother had used
fertility drugs.

“The problem is, how can I take care of them? How to feed
them?” said their mother, Ibtisam Najim Abid, at the hospital.