KOLHAPUR: A 27-year-old mother of triplets gave birth to quadruplets -- three girls and a boy -- prematurely through C-section during 33rd week of pregnancy at the Krantisinha Nana Patil Civil Hospital in Satara on Friday evening. Treating doctors said all the newborns weighed between 1.3kg and 1.4kg, significantly below the typical birth weight range of 2.5kg to 3.5kg, and were being cared for in incubators.A full-term pregnancy is considered to be after 38 weeks. "The newborns are stable. A dedicated team of nurses is closely monitoring their progress," a doctor said, adding that the woman was unaware of multiple pregnancy till she developed labour pains.The woman, Kajal Vikas Khakardiya, had delivered triplets five years ago. "Kajal and her husband, Vikas, work as construction workers and reside in Pune district's Saswad. Originally from Gujarat, the couple has been living in Maharashtra for several years," the doctor said.According to the doctors, Kajal had travelled to Koregaon to visit her relatives when she began experiencing labour pains. A local doctor conducted a scan and discovered that she was carrying multiple babies, something Kajal was unaware of. The doctor promptly referred her to the Krantisinha Nana Patil Civil Hospital in Satara, where she was transported by ambulance on Friday morning. After a thorough clinical evaluation, doctors opted for a C-section delivery, given the high-risk attached to such pregnancies.Dr Yuvraj Karpe, civil surgeon of Satara, told TOI, "Kajal was in her 33rd week of gestation. Quadruplet births are extremely rare, occurring in only one of every five to six lakh cases. She had previously delivered triplets (one boy and two girls). These types of pregnancies carry significant risks, including the possibility of the babies developing anaemia (a condition marked by low red blood cell count), and the mother facing elevated blood pressure levels."The doctors said multiple pregnancies were a natural occurrence in the in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) mode or test tube babies. "The sonography before 12 weeks of pregnancy is very important. Proper scanning helps detect the number of babies conceived," Dr Karpe said.Vikas, the father, said, "I rushed from Saswad to Satara to sign the form required by doctors to carry out the delivery. I was only hoping for everything to go well. The doctors at the hospital are very caring. The other staffers are also taking care of our babies and my wife."