The hospital is on pace to deliver 7,500 babies this year, making it Maryland's second-highest baby-delivering hospital. It provided Malual's care free of charge, hospital officials said.
"It was the right thing to do," said Maura Callanan, executive director of women's and children's and surgical services. "We felt that it was a very special situation, and we knew we could take care of her."
Sweeney first examined Malual at 19 weeks and determined that she was carrying five babies. Sweeney, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist, said he "made tentative plans to see her and admit her to the hospital in a few weeks." The doctor had hoped to keep Malual pregnant for at least 28 weeks, which would give the babies an adequate chance of surviving outside the womb.
At 24 weeks, the babies were treated with a course of steroids, designed to push the growth process along more quickly. The treatment was repeated at 28 weeks.
Malual made it past that milestone, but soon she couldn't eat and was having trouble breathing. Her kidneys were having difficulty functioning, and doctors worried that her blood pressure would skyrocket.
Malual delivered the babies at 30 1/2 weeks.
"She actually walked into the delivery room," said Dr. Joe Morris, an obstetrics specialist who helped deliver the babies. "She's a very tall woman, very statuesque. She took this long cloth, beautiful African print and wrapped it around her head and stood up. She said, 'We walk in my country. We are not pushed.' "
The babies are on track to leave the hospital in two to four weeks.
