Na'amoana Family Welcomes Australia's First Known Identical Quadruplets

Jenitar Na'amoana, the mother of identical quadruplets, says the pregnancy has all been "one giant miracle".

"Every day our miracle babies grow strong is another answered prayer," Ms Na'amoana posted on social media, with a photo of one of the baby's tiny hands gripping her finger.

"We love you more than words can ever say, my miracle babies."

Ms Na'amoana gave birth to the extremely rare quads by caesarean section at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital (RBWH) on July 14.

Emily, Harriet, Alexa and Catherine, who were naturally conceived, were delivered at 28 weeks and four days' gestation.

Their birth doubled Jenitar and Jortham Na'aomoana's brood from four to eight.

They are sisters to siblings Denessa 10, Karl, eight, Selina, three, and Clohi, one.

The delivery comes 76 years after Australia's first surviving set of quadruplets, Alison, Philip, Judith, and Mark Sara, were born in 1950.

But the Na'amoana girls are the first known case of identical quadruplets being born in Australia.

Cathy Scott, president of the Multiple Births Association Brisbane Northside branch, met with Ms Na'amoana in the lead-up to the quadruplets' delivery.

"It was a surprise pregnancy, it was not planned," she told ABC Radio Brisbane.

"Jenitar is doing amazing. The fact that she had had the four children previously really did help her body prepare for what it was about to go through. But a really big space issue at the end of the pregnancy with four beautiful growing and developing girls on board."

RBWH maternal fetal medicine specialist Alexa Bendall admitted to being "a little nervous" after first meeting the Na'amoanas 10 weeks into the pregnancy, given the high risk.

"Not only are there the four babies with one mum, but also four babies with one placenta," Dr Bendall told News Channel.

"That comes along with significant risks that can be quite severe but somehow this beautiful little family managed to dodge all of those and end up with four healthy beautiful little girls.

"To be able to … go through the pregnancy missing most of the risks except prematurity is just amazing."

Complications can include growth restriction and unbalanced blood flow between the babies in the womb.

'A bit mind-blowing'

Quadruplets are estimated to occur in about one in 700,000 births.

Identical quads are much rarer, happening in about one in 15 million pregnancies.

But maternal fetal medicine expert Nick Fisk believes the Na'amoana quads may be even rarer still, given they were "monochorionic", the medical term for sharing a placenta.

"Although one can't be precise, I think this type of placental-sharing quads could be rarer than one in 15 million," he wrote on social media.

Ms Scott, herself a mother of twins, said the Multiple Births Association would "help the family any way we can with the capacity that we have".

She said that when she found out about Jenitar expecting quads, her reaction was "just how, how, how, how".

"It's a bit mind-blowing," Ms Scott said.

"It's really important to remember that there are the four other children as well that need the support. It's not just about the multiples. It's about the family as a whole."

Ms Scott said Ms Na'amoana was discharged from hospital three days after giving birth to the quads.

"Now we have a situation where mum's at home with her bigger babies and she has four beautiful babies in the hospital," she said.

"We've got children that are at school, children that are at home needing care but then we also have the babies in the hospital that they're trying to get in to visit, to take breast milk in, too, so that the girls can be fed.

"It's a lot of running around for somebody, especially who's still recovering from a caesarean."

The Na'amoanas have grown from a family of six to a family of 10.

Their biggest challenge may be logistics once the babies are well enough to go home.

"We're talking about a family of 10 that needs a car with six harness points in it," Ms Scott said.

"If anybody out there could help with information or even better, a car for them, that would be amazing because this family is doing it tough."