A 19-year-old woman, Rubina Begum, gave birth to quintuplets at the Mekhliganj Sub-Divisional Hospital in Cooch Behar district on Thursday morning. Two of the five girls were however stillborn. The other three were referred to the district hospital in Jalpaiguri where they have been kept in the sick newborn care unit.

After completion of a normal delivery, gynaecologist Dr Alok Santra took care of the other three babies and the new mother and advised Rubina’s husband Makshe Muhammad to admit them to the Jalpaiguri district hospital, it is learnt. The three babies were immediately referred to the SNCU in Jalpaiguri.

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“They are undergoing treatment here and doctors are trying hard to save the babies with proper treatment. There is no bad news till now,” said Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH), Jalpaiguri, Dr Jagannath Sarkar.

Assistant CMOH in Dinhata, Dr Paritosh Mandal, meanwhile, said he had never seen such a rare case in his service life.

“The birth rate of twins is five percent. More than two is a rare case, and in this case, all five premature babies were girls. The 19-year-old mother, who conceived for the first time after her marriage, gave birth to all of them within 28 weeks,” he said.

According to hospital records, Rubina gave birth to the first baby at 6.55 am normally, and the doctor recorded it as a “female neonatal dead baby” whose weight was 375 grams. The second was born at 8.20 am, and the doctor recorded it as “intrauterine fetal death”.

The third baby of the quintuplets was born around 8.53 am and her weight was 585 grams. Born around 9 am, the fourth baby was in a comparatively better condition as she weighed 900 grams. The fifth baby was born at 9.20 am and she weighed 620 grams.

Begum, a resident of Changrabanda in Cooch Behar, was admitted to the Mekhliganj Hospital following labour pain on Wednesday night. She was under the care of the local health centre, and did not have a ultra sonography (USG) report.

A senior doctor said the fourth baby was in a better condition than the others and she might survive.