Five years ago, India’s first set of male quintuplets babies were born to Sabira Khan in Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani hospital (KDAH). Of the five boys, one died within two weeks, but the remaining four survived and, on September 4 this year, Karim, Kaif, Kamil and Kadir celebrated their fifth birthday.
Her husband Ubed Khan runs a garment business.
Prior to the birth of the quintuplets, the Khans lived in a one BHK flat, but they soon bought a three BHK apartment. Three years later, Ubed bought a car, so that he could drop all his five children to school.
“I have a bike but it would not be possible to take all five of them on it. So I bought car in 2012 to ferry them to school,” Ubed told Mirror. “In fact, I have to think in terms of five for everything…. I have to buy five sets of clothes, five similar toys, and so on,” said 31-year-old Ubed.
In the early years, Sabira too went through a tough time. “The initial years were really stressful for me. They were premature, and we had to take care of everything so that they would not get infected. In fact we converted one of our rooms into a small ‘hospital’ room for them,” said Sabira. “Without using hand sanitizer, no one was allowed to touch the babies…. we had to take so many precautions.” She added that breast-feeding too was a problem. “I seldom got any rest and had to feed all five of them one by one.”
“Even now, it is difficult to balance fatherhood and work,” said Ubed. “On holidays I get attacked by my children —it’s a constant barrage of hugs and them jumping on my back. But, while one moment can be total chaos, the next minute can turn into sheer joy.
“There are other things to be thought of,” said Ubed. “For instance, if I want to take my family for an outing, I have to take along other family members too, so that each adult can take responsibility for one child.”
Senior Gynecologist Dr Suchitra Pandit of KDAH said, “It was a pre-mature delivery and there could have been complications. But as we knew what to expect in advance, we had a plan in place and were well prepared. The survival rate of premature quintuplets is very low. But with the dedicated team comprising neonatal and pediatric intensivists Dr Vinay Joshi and Dr Preetha Joshi, and other staff we managed it.” In fact, Sabira is extremely grateful to the hospital and gives full credit to the NICU team who closely monitored the children and were able to save their lives.