Woman gives birth to sextuplets

A baby

A woman has given birth to sextuplets at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

The four girls and two boys, ranging in weight from 1lb 5oz (0.6kg) to 1lb 15oz (0.9kg), were born 14 weeks early to Vicky and Andy Lamb, both aged 31.

Mrs Lamb, of Oxford, who had fertility treatment, is said to be recovering well following the birth on 14 May. The babies are in intensive care.

Doctors said the next few days would be "critical" for the sextuplets.

Publicist Max Clifford, who is representing the family, said Mrs Lamb became pregnant after taking the same fertility drug she used before the birth of her first child, Gracie, now aged five.

"They are just incredibly grateful for the John Radcliffe Hospital, the doctors and the nurses," he said.

Talking about when the couple might be able to take their babies home, Mr Clifford said: "It is a long way off.

"They are fighting for their lives, they are still critical."

The hospital said sextuplets were born once in every 4.5 million pregnancies.

Last year a woman gave birth to six babies at the Royal Jubilee Maternity Hospital in Belfast.

Staff ‘privileged’

Before that the last surviving sextuplets in the UK were born in 1993, according to the Multiple Births Foundation charity.

The John Radcliffe Hospital said: "Staff… feel privileged to play their part in such an unusual birth.

"A large team of doctors and nurses were present at the delivery or involved with the immediate management of the babies.

"There were several weeks of planning the delivery prior to the birth."

Consultant neonatologist Dr Kenny McCormick said: "Babies that are born this early need a lot of specialist care.

"They are receiving round-the-clock intensive care and specialist nursing at the moment and their condition is constantly monitored."

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

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