JEDDAH, 8 January — A 21-year-old Saudi woman gave birth to quintuplets at the Saudi German Hospital here yesterday. The five children -- four male and a female -- were born prematurely after 29 weeks of pregnancy, Dr. Hassan Muhammad Ali, pediatric consultant attached to the hospital's neonatal unit, told Arab News.

"All five newborns had breathing difficulties and were given the help of a mechanical ventilator immediately. While the condition of four of them is stable and are off the ventilator, one child will continue to remain in the intensive care unit for four to six weeks," he said.

The woman was admitted to the hospital a month ago after she complained of labor pains. The quintuplets were delivered by a cesarean operation, Dr. Ali said, adding that the four males weighed a kilo each and the female 1.2 kg. The operation was conducted by Dr. Magdi Al-Sheikh, a specialist in test tube babies, and supervised by Dr. Ali.

Dr. Ali said the woman was sterile and when she was unable to conceive for six years after marriage she underwent the invitro fertilization (IVF) procedure. "The quintuplets are the result of the IVF," he added.

This is the first time that the hospital has made history with quintuplets. "IVF usually results in women delivering more than one child at a time, mostly twins or triplets," he said.

Dr. Ali said the hospital's neonatal center is well equipped to deal with any neonatal problems.

"Some 250 to 300 children are born in this hospital every year," said Dr. Ali, an Egyptian, who has been associated with SGH for over 18 months. He worked in the neonatal department of Al-Hada Military Hospital in Taif for three years earlier. He had also worked for three years at the King Fahd Hospital in Baha.