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NUMC team takes unexpected delivery of triplets in stride

Cynthia Amoah with her triplets, Amadora, Amarinda, and Amaris.

One New Ulm woman tripled her joy when she gave birth to triplets at New Ulm Medical Center (NUMC) in September. The momentous occasion was made even more joyful in that, even though the triplets were not supposed to be delivered at NUMC, the staff and providers at NUMC and their partners in the metro took the whole thing in stride and delivered the three happy, healthy babies with no issues.

The three baby girls, who were delivered eight weeks early, were all within a few ounces of each other: 3 lbs, 10.2 oz; 3 lbs, 11.3 oz; and 3 lbs, 9.1 oz. Because her pregnancy was considered high-risk, mom Cynthia Amoah was supposed to deliver her babies at Children’s Hospital in St. Paul. But Amoah, and her husband Robert, couldn’t be happier with the outcome.

“My babies all came out crying,” Amoah said. “I was so happy to hear that sound.”

Amoah herself was crying when she went to the hospital, knowing it was too early for her babies to be delivered. She was at work when she started having contractions and bleeding and her manager took her to the hospital as quickly as possible.

“They told me I was dilated to 6 and I said, ‘What?!'” Amoah said.

After that, things moved rapidly.

“With the possibility of her progressing very quickly, we decided it would be safer for her to deliver right here,” said Ashleigh Swearingen, MD, the OB/GYN specialist who delivered the babies via cesarean section. “We have a wonderful relationship with Abbott Northwestern Hospital and Minnesota Perinatal Physicians. We called the perinatologist and discussed the details with them and decided it was safest to deliver the babies here.”

The next call was made to the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) at the Mother Baby Center at United Hospital and Children’s Minnesota. They quickly organized a mobile NICU team to come to NUMC and transport the babies to United.

“Fetal monitoring ahead of delivery showed that they were all doing well,” Dr. Swearingen said. The c-section went smoothly and all three of the babies were delivered within a few minutes of each other.

“For our staff, it was all hands on deck. Everyone just came together really quickly and efficiently,” Dr. Swearingen said. The babies needed some respiratory support initially, which was expected for babies delivered at 32 weeks, she said. They were evaluated and transported to United by the NICU team. “By the end of the day, they were breathing on their own, which was really exciting.”

The NUMC pediatrician on-call attending the birth was Obehi Okojie, DO.

“I am really impressed with how well everything went,” Dr. Okojie said. “I love moments like these where I get to fall in love with medicine all over again. I can’t believe we did that! Phenomenal. Really just a testament to how well the team did.” 

To find out more about the Birth Center and surgical services at NUMC, go to allinahealth.org/numc.

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