A 66-year-old Romanian woman is believed to have become the world's oldest mother yesterday when she gave birth to a girl.
Doctors at the Giulesti Maternity hospital in Bucharest said Ms Adriana Iliescu's daughter, Eliza Maria, was delivered by Caesarean section more than six weeks before the end of a normal, 40-week pregnancy. The child's twin sister was stillborn.
Ms Iliescu had earlier defended her decision to become pregnant by saying that she came from a family with an unusual history of longevity.
A hospital spokeswoman said last night that Ms Iliescu's daughter weighed 1.5 kilos, less than half the weight of an average newborn. She was in the intensive care unit, but breathing on her own.
"The mother is doing well. She is saying she has been given a new lease of life," the spokeswoman added. Doctors performed the emergency Caesarean section after the smaller of the twins died in Ms Iliescu's womb.
Ms Iliescu, an author of children's books, had undergone fertility treatment for nine years, including procedures to reverse the effects of menopause, before being artificially inseminated, said Dr Bogdan Marinescu, who runs the hospital.Asked why he had been so willing to help a 66-year-old woman become pregnant, Dr Marinescu replied: "She was in the right condition to carry a pregnancy.