NewYork-Presbyterian quintuplets celebrate first birthday

The first set of quintuplets delivered at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital since 1992 celebrated their first birthday on February 26, 2020.

Mother Arlette Rivera and her husband Christopher came back to visit CUIMC/NYP on March 9, 2020 for a pediatrician appointment. All five children - Sebastian, Sophia, Mathias, Montserrat and Thiago – are healthy and thriving.

From Left: Dr. Timothy Wen, Christopher Rivera, Dr. Chia-Ling Nhan-Chang, Arlette Rivera, and Dr. Desmond Sutton

Mom and dad Christopher and Arlette Rivera and with their five children

Drs. Timothy Wen, Chia-Ling Nhan-Chang, and Desmond Sutton with the Rivera children

Desmond Sutton, MD

Multiple pregnancies, especially higher order multiple births like quintuplets, can be risky for the mother and babies and require expert care. During her pregnancy, Rivera received care at the Center for Prenatal Pediatrics, one of Columbia’s dedicated high-risk pregnancy centers that cares for patients with fetal complications.

NYP/CUIMC assembled a multidisciplinary team for Rivera’s pregnancy and delivery, led by Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialist Chia-Ling Nhan-Chang, MD, that included fellows, physicians, anesthesiologists, and nurses. Timothy Wen, MD, now a chief resident in Obstetrics and Gynecology at NYP/CUIMC and Desmond Sutton, MD, a fellow in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at NYP/CUIMC, were part of the team that delivered the quintuplets. The babies were delivered via C-section last year at 30 weeks and two days.

Quintuplet births remain extremely rare. In 2018, only 10 births were quintuplets or other higher order multiple births in the United States.