Wang Cuiying, a farmer from Hebei Province, went into labour at 7:43 am and was celebrating the birth of two boys and three girls moments later following a Caesarian operation.

The heaviest baby weighs 1.82 kilograms while the lightest weighs 1.49 kilograms and doctors said all were doing well.

"I am very happy and excited to know the operation has been successful and my wife and the five babies are healthy," said proud dad Jiao Baocun, a farmer from Hejian, a city in North China's Hebei.

There is no history of multiple births in either of the couple's families, he said.

Wang Cuiying, also 33 years old, was admitted to hospital on January 29 and the babies were delivered eight weeks early to prevent potential complications in advanced pregnancy.

The delivery took 30 minutes to complete with more than 20 doctors and nurses taking part. A normal delivery needs only one doctor and one nurse.

"We conducted the operation very smoothly and all the five babies cried loudly which shows their respiration is normal," said Zhai Guirong, head of the maternity department, who was in charge of the operation.

The five babies were immediately sent to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) which provides them with special care and supervision for about one to three weeks.

The hospital delivered a set of quintuplets in 1960s, but some of them died due to poor medical conditions. Since its establishment in 1959, the hospital has delivered about 4,000 babies every year.

The happy father offered his sincere thanks to the hospital for its generous help which received the mother despite knowing he would be unable to pay the high medical fees.

"The total fee is estimated to be at least 100,000 yuan (US$12,091) including expenditure of special medical care and possible medicine for prematurely delivered babies," said Zhang Wei, head of the NICU in the hospital. "We will cut the fee appropriately taking into consideration this family's economic background."

The father said his family would try their best to bring up the five children with the generous help of the hospital, the Yili Group and other warm-hearted people.

Beijing Obstetrics and Gynaecology Hospital has set up a hotline for the couple, through which people can contribute money and property to them.

"The hotline is very busy these days," said Wang Jie, an official of the Party Committee Office in the hospital. "Many people and working units are showing real concern closely for the family and want to donate things to them."

The local government in Hejian donated 10,000 yuan (US$1,210). Yu Jingfang, head of the Beijing agency of Cangzhou government of Hebei Province, contributed 1,000 yuan (US$121).

(China Daily March 5, 2002)