Latifa Stephen, age 21, checked in to the Georgetown Public Hospital around 10 am on Friday expecting to deliver twins. The Department of Public Information (DPI) said that this was determined after she did an ultrasound at the Enterprise Health Centre on the East Coast of Demerara when she was seven months pregnant. She however delivered triplets.
This was not her first pregnancy, in fact, it was her third as she was already a mother of two (a boy and a girl), ages 3 and 2 years old, DPI said.
DPI said that on Friday Stephen had a normal delivery with the first baby at 3.30 pm and the second at 3.31 pm. Both the midwife and mother believed that the delivery was over but the midwife’s intuition led her to realise that there was a third baby and at 3.37 pm the third baby came, making it a triplet delivery. All three babies are boys.
Speaking with DPI, Stephen said,“I was actually shocked; I couldn’t believe it… the ultrasound said twins so I thought was only twins.”
The father of the children, Dillon Prince, an officer in the Guyana Police Force (GPF) stationed in Corentyne was eagerly awaiting the news of the successful delivery. However, he too was shocked to hear that he is now the father of triplets, DPI said. The mother of the triplets, who is also a final year trainee teacher at the Cyril Potter College of Education, says she does not plan to have any more children.
The babies are currently under watch by specialised doctors of the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, DPI said.
