A woman from Rachuonyo in Homa Bay county has lost quintuplets she delivered on Sunday.

Jacinta Akinyi, 30, lost two of her newborn babies at Matata Hospital after she delivering them at home.

Three others died at Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital where they had been referred for specialised care.

Speaking at the hospital, Akinyi who hails from East Kamagangi village, said she never expected to deliver quintuplets.

Had she gone for a an ultra-sound she would have known the number of children she was carrying, Akinyi said.

The mother of four children she said attended antenatal clinic twice at a dispensary. She did make the required for visits because of the nurses' strike.

Akinyi stays with her mother-in-law. Her husband, a welder, lives in Nairobi.

KTHR acting CEOEnock Ondari said in his office yesterday the babies died because they were transported in cold conditions.

The babies were being treated at the hospital. One succumbed to a condition Ondari referred to as Disseminated Intravascular Coagulopathy.

It is characterized by the widespread activation of the clotting cascade that results in the formation of blood clots in the small blood vessels throughout the body.

Ondari said the second baby died of severe pneumonia and the third of undergrowth.

“The babies died because of cold. KTHR is the only hospital in the region with incubators," Ondari told the press in office.

The mother had premature labour, he said.

He said that sometimes the mother can manage such number of kids if they survived or doctors can recommend for supplementary milk it is she found not to have enough.

In order to avoid such a scenario in future, Ondari advised women to visit health facilities that can offer comprehensive services. He however said that the family has the history of twins and quadruplets.

-The Star/By BENSON NYAGESIBA