In Hebrew, the word “Chaham” means wise. Chaham is the family name in Hebrew of a young woman who gave birth to quadruplets at the Rambam Medical Center.
Four children, two boys and two girls, were born a few days ago to Aaron (32) and to Hodaya (25) Huhem (Chaham in Hebrew), from Zichron Yaakov.
Born during week 29, the babies ranged in weight from 1.235 kg to 1.305 kg (the largest of the four). Since birth the four babies have grown stronger and are in good, stable, condition.
Hodaya had been hospitalized in Rambam’s Department of Gynecology to monitor her high-risk pregnancy. The medical team decided it was time to perform a caesarean section when she began experiencing labor pains one evening. A multi-disciplinary team was called in with specialists from obstetrics, neonatal intensive care, and delivery room surgery—a total of 15 medical and nursing staff members to help usher the newborns into the world.
Professor Ron Beloosesky, director of the Ultrasound Unit in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Rambam, and the lead surgeon for the delivery, said: “This is a rare case, and the chances of having quadruplets naturally is one in 720,000 births. When fertility treatments are used, the chances increase.” He explained, “In cases like this, doctors recommend reducing the number of fetuses so that the remaining ones have a better chance of normal development and survival.”
The desire of the “Wise” family to keep all four babies created a challenge. During her first pregnancy, the developing fetus had a malformation that ultimately endangered Hodaya’s life. Although the couple wanted to keep the baby, with her life at risk, the pregnancy had to be ended. When we lost the baby, we were broken,” the two share, “but now we’ve received back four times what we lost—it’s a big correction and we are so happy, because before we left the hospital with nothing in our hands, and now we have every hand full.”
Hodaya shares, “During this Passover season, ours is a story that carries a message of hope for everyone.” In addition to the four newborns, Hodaya and Aaron have little girl just over one year old.
As noted above, the birth of quadruplets is quite rare; however, in recent years there have been an increasing number of reported in Israel. The last birth of quadruplets at Rambam was in February, 2016—the first recorded case at the hospital since 1988.