Afghan mother gave birth to sextuplets

Sharah is an Afghan mother who has given birth to sextuplets at a hospital in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif.

The mother was not aware she was carrying more than one child and had not received fertility treatment.

Doctors say Sharah, 24, arrived in hospital on Monday and gave birth on the same day to three boys and three girls. It was her first pregnancy.

Doctors say that having six children without fertility treatment is extremely rare.

Afghanistan has one of the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the world.

Sharah arrived in Mazar-e-Sharif hospital from a remote village in Balkh province.

Provincial Health Director Mirwais Rabi said that all six babies are well but under-weight, with one only weighing about 700g (25oz).

Mirwais Rabi said the sextuplets were being kept inside incubators and a special team of nurses and doctors are looking after them.

The sextuplets’ mother is said to be in good health but exhausted.

Doctors say that had they been aware that Sharah was carrying six children, she would have been in hospital at least several days in advance.

Her story has made headlines on Afghan television and radio stations.

“She is brave, she is amazing,” one resident said.

“I don’t know how she carried six children. The government should help her now.”

A 2010 survey revealed that infant and under-fives mortality rates appeared to be decreasing.

Experts say that despite recent improvements, Afghanistan remains one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a pregnant woman or a young child.

One in 10 children in Afghanistan still dies before they are five years old, the survey said.