Most pregnancies involving large numbers of babies end prematurely, says BBC Africa’s health reporter Rhoda Odhiambo.
Multiple births involving more than three babies are rare and often the result of fertility treatments – but in this case the couple say they conceived naturally.
Ms Sithole, 37, previously gave birth to twins, who are now six years old.
She is said to be in good health after delivering 29 weeks into her pregnancy in Pretoria on
Monday evening.
Speaking to Pretoria News a month ago, Ms Sithole said her pregnancy was “tough at the beginning” and she had prayed for a healthy birth, with many a sleepless night worrying about what was to come.
“How would they fit in the womb? Would they survive?” she asked herself, but was reassured by doctors that her womb was expanding.
When it was thought she was carrying eight foetuses, Ms Sithole was suffering leg pains and doctors found that two of the eight “were in the wrong tube”.
“That was sorted and I have been okay since then. I can’t wait for my children,” she told the newspaper at the time.
