Ugandan quintuplets born to former Cancer survivor mark one year 

Quintuplets born in 2018 to a former Cancer survivor Honoranta Nakato have celebrated their first birthday.  Honoranta Nakato (45) prematurely delivered the babies at Women’s Hospital, International and Fertility Centre in Bukoto on September 9, 2018.   

Speaking to The Nile Post from her home in Ntinda, Nakato confessed that she is overwhelmed with the experience of motherhood but nonetheless thankful. On giving birth to the babies, Nakato had to move in with her brother to be near medical facilities as she learned to nurse five babies at once. 

Visited by various media houses in 2018, the effort of looking after the children was described as having, “drained all Nakato’s energy, compared to the time I visited her at the hospital when they were born at 33 weeks. In Naalya, she had lost weight due to lack of sleep and a cough.” 

Rehmah Birungi a neonatal nurse said that at birth, the children weighed between 1.34 and 1.87kg and were kept in incubators. One of them had breathing difficulties while the other had jaundice.

The babies were feeding through a nasogastric tube and could only consume two milligrams of milk after two hours.

A year later, the babies are picture of exuberance and delight. They are excitable and run around the compound, even with the strangers in their midst. 

The children could barely stay still for the birthday cake their mother and her friend Dr Tamale Ssali. The healthy-looking quintuplets are, in order of birth, Rhoda Kirabo, Rowena Kirabo, Rodney Kirabo, Raymond Kirabo and Rachael Kirabo.

Nakato, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014 underwent a successful operation in January 6, 2015 that stemmed the spread of the disease from Uganda Cancer Institute. 

This was hardly the first hurdle Nakato had to overcome in her life. She had failed to have children since her marriage at 22. The fright of a near fatal disease reignited the desire to have children and this time she decided to try in-vitro fertilization (IVF) at Women’s Hospital.  

To the astonishment of many, including the father of the children, Nakato  gave birth to three girls and two boys on September 9. 

Nakato expresses amazement at the year past. A former secondary school teacher with a husband who does not earn much, she was not sure how she would fend for the children and herself. Against all odds, they are celebrating a year healthy and well.