A few weeks ago, a Mississippi couple walked into the hospital as a party of two and quickly became a party of seven. Haylee and Shawn Ladner are the proud parents of quintuplets born February 16 at Wiser Hospital for Women and Infants at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Quints are uncommon, but these quints are particularly rare. Haylee gave birth to a son, Jake, the only quint boy, and four girls: Adalyn, Everleigh, Malley, and Magnolia, who are actually identical quadruplets.
The couple had experienced multiple miscarriages and underwent intrauterine insemination in 2022, Today reported. The family hoped for a viable pregnancy, but what they got was beyond their wildest dreams. The family believes their babies were sent to them by God.
Haylee calls the quints her 'miracle babies.'
She is a middle school teacher from Poplarville, Mississippi, who thought her dreams of motherhood were just that. But her IUI procedure was an overwhelming success.
"I didn't think I would ever get the chance to be a mother of even one baby, so now that I am going to be a mother to five, it is the greatest blessing of my entire life," Haylee shared in a news conference on February 24.
This type of multiples birth is incredibly rare.
In a statement from UMCC Communication, Dr. Rachel Morris, associate professor of maternal fetal medicine and the doctor who provided Haylee's prenatal care and delivered their babies, explained how rare the pregnancy was.
"She had a quintuplet pregnancy with four identical females. Reports of spontaneous quintuplets vary but are about 1 in 60 million," she shared. "There are very few reports of identical quadruplets in the literature to date. Reported incidence is 1 in 10 to 15 million pregnancies. There is only one other report of this combination in the literature from 2018."
Haylee's care team was highly specialized and expertly prepared for the birth of her babies.
Doctors admitted Haylee to Wisner Hospital for Women on January 11. The hospital quickly made special arrangements for her and the quints. The statement noted that a labor and delivery room was set aside expressly for her to deliver the babies because staff had to be ready for her to give birth at any time. Her care team consisted of 30 specialists specifically engaged for her care.
"A daily schedule was in place for the entire duration of her stay in the hospital, and team members were willing and happy to be called in even if this happened at 2 a.m.," Dr. Mobolaji Famuyide, chief of the Division of Newborn Medicine, said in the hospital's statement. "There were five warmers and two rooms ready for the babies, and several neonatologists, neonatal nurse practitioners, fellows, nurses and respiratory therapists ready every day. We were ready for weeks for this birth."
Haylee has spoken openly about her pregnancy and her faith.
"We wanted to share this story for two reasons: one, because we believe they are miracles given to us by God, and two, we wanted to do it to hopefully help other couples who have gone through infertility too know that they have some hope out there in the world as well," Haylee said on the podcast Good Things with Rebecca Turner.
The Ladner babies are thriving.
The tiny Ladner babies were born at just 28 weeks gestation via Cesarean section, UMCC reported. The babies ranged from the smallest, Malley Kate, at 1 lb. 11 oz., to the largest, Jake Easton, at 2 lbs. 5 oz. The babies are in the neonatal intensive care unit at Children's of Mississippi. The couple felt at ease delivering at UMMC and received excellent care.
"We couldn't be more pleased. All our concerns, all our worries we've had about the delivery, she acknowledged them and explained how they would care for those issues," Shawn said in the hospital's statement. "We've felt like we've been cared for the best we possibly could be."
Haylee has gotten to hold three of the five babies so far and can't wait to be together as a big happy family. "They're thriving, and we're looking forward to the day when they can come home. They are the greatest blessing of my entire life," she shared in the statement.
Shawn has set up a GoFundMe page to help the family navigate expenses associated with the pregnancy and medical care for Haylee and the babies.
