Grandmother gives birth to her 20th child

The woman shocked staff at Hadassah Hospital when she revealed she was already a mother to 19 kids, the Times of Israel reported. 

'She was very excited about every birth, every child,' midwife Aliza Altmark said. 'It also gave me a good feeling. She has sons and daughters-in-law, and of course she has a lot of help at home.'

The mother was calm during the labour, which reportedly took a few hours.

'In the early stages, she was surprised that birth did not progress as quickly as her previous births,' Altmark said. 'But I explained that each delivery was different and promised her that it would be alright.'

In a statement released by the hospital, the woman - who has one set of twins from 18 previous births - has spent some 14 years of her life pregnant.

Some of her older children have married and had children themselves.

According to the Guinness World Records, the woman who has had to most children was an 18th century Russian peasant who produced 69 children.

During 27 labours, the wife of Feodor Vassilyev gave birth to a remarkable 16 pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets.

This article originally appeared on New Idea.