Medford mail tribune., November 03, 1963, Image 37

The woman who saw it all, Mrs. Kirehgasler,
proudly displays the piece of bed
sheet that records the exact birth times
and manner of the quints' delivery.
A nurse who was in the delivery room and who
later took care of the Fischer quintuplets tells
the whole dramatic, heart-warming story
By MRS. ALFRED KIRCHGASLER
as told to Del Griffin,
Aberdeen (S.D.) American-News
I have A piece of bed sheet to remind
me of the momentous Saturday
when I cared for five very famous new
born babies the Fischer quintuplets.
On that cloth are written the sex, the arrival
time, and the manner of delivery of each of the
quints. But even without the cloth, I am sure I
could never forget that morning when I placed
identification bracelets on the arms of those pink
and crying babies!
I have been a registered nurse for 25 years
and worked in the maternity section of St. Luke's
Hospital in Aberdeen, S.D., for four years be
fore becoming a clinical instructor six years ago.
As the assistant clinical instructor for the ma
ternity unit of the Presentation School of Nurs
ing, I supervise the hospital experience of the
students and instruct them in the procedures on
the maternity floor.
Mrs. Andrew (Mary Ann) Fischer came to
St. Luke's Hospital Wednesday, Sept 11, three
days before the birth of the quints. I assigned
one of our Btudents to take care of her, and I
saw her often during the following days.
She is a remarkable person juat the right
kind of mother to have quints. In spite of all that
has happened, she still is beautifully composed.
If I were to describe Mrs. Fischer, it would
be as a woman who is humble, calm, and capable
of handling any situation. She is steady and
strong physically, mentally, and spiritually
strong. One of her first requests the morning
of the births was that Sacred Heart medals be
placed on the isolettes which housed her infants.
On the day she entered the hospital Mrs.
Fi'cher learned that quintuplet births were ex
pected. She was surprised; she had realized that
multiple births were possible, but she did not
think there- would be that many I During the
next few days, I felt she was concerned about
the future. She was, I think, apprehensive that
the babies might come early and not survive. She
was more concerned about them than herself.
When I first heard of the impending births, I
felt it was unbelievable a miracle that some
thing like that could happen in Aberdeen. I am
always thrilled each time a baby is born; each
is a miracle; each is a thrill. It happens every
time I am in the delivery room. We all wait for
that little cry, and then we are relieved. Each
birth is a miracle, but this would be a miracle
five times over. I felt privileged to be there, and
I asked to be called when the births occurred.
The hospital notified me at 1 :45 a.m. that Sat
urday, Sept. 14. 1 left immediately, picked up an
other nurse, and arrived in the delivery room
between the time the first baby was delivered
and the time the second baby came.
Mrs. Fischer, delivering without anesthetic,
was beautifully calm and composed. She is
physically capable of such delivery. She never
screamed or cried out all the while I was there.
No Sedation or Anesthetic Was Used
The births were not "natural" in the sense
the word is often used. There is a procedure for
natural childbirth in which the mother is given
training in breathing and relaxing and other
things before the delivery. This was not the case
with Mrs. Fischer. But the births were natural
in the sense that she delivered the quintuplets
without the aid of sedation or anesthetic. All
premature babies here are delivered without an
esthetic to protect the infant from depression
resulting from lack of oxygen.
There wts an anesthetist in the delivery room.
He administered oxygen to the mother to reduce
the chance of an oxygen shortage in the babies.
My piece of cloth gives this account of the
births: 1:68 frank breech girl; 2:03 LOA
girl; 2:14 double footling girl; 2:39 double
footling boy; 3:01 double footling girl.
The "double footling" description means the
babies came with both feet first; "frank breech"
means the baby came with legs folded on the
abdomen, knees under the chin, and buttocks
first; "LOA" (left occipital anterior) means the
baby came head first (normally).
The babies came in pink and crying. With
premature babies the quints were born at about
seven months this is not always the case. The
infants were, in my opinion, wonderfully devel
oped for the shorter gestation time.
Dr. James Berbos delivered the quints. Dr.
Albin J. Janusz worked with Dr. Berbos in the
actual delivery, and Dr. B. F. King took charge
of the infants and brought them to the nursery.
I went to the nursery to take care of the
babies. Despite the short time between deliveries,
the task of caring for them went smoothly, much
like a single delivery. The situation always was
under control, and everything was well organ
ized. I don't think any of us really felt the ex
citement until the next day.
Dr. King put the infants immediately into
isolettes, machines which control the humidity,
temperature, and oxygen and which have wrist
let "portholes" which allow a person to reach
inside the unit without letting in any outside air.
Babies "A" and "B" were put in one isolette.
"C" was put in another, and "D" and "E" were
placed together in a unit. They were later trans
ferred to individual isolettes.
The infants' umbilical cords were not tied im
mediately because of the short time between
deliveries. Later, in the nursery, I assisted Dr.
Janusz in tying the cords.
Identified by Letters A to E
The identification bracelets, which all babies
at the hospital wear, carried the letters to iden
tify the infants. The babies, of course, have since
been given names. "A" is Mary Ann, "B" is
Mary Magdalene, "C" is Mary Catherine, "D"
is James Andrew, and "E" is Mary Margaret.
The babies were in good condition. The boy
appeared stronger and he was noticeably heav
ier. The girls all appeared to weigh about the
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