Canadian Sextuplets
Sextuplets
Canadian Sextuplets
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VANCOUVER, British Columbia - A woman has given birth to what is believed to be Canada’s first set of sextuplets, and the infants were in listed in fair condition, hospital officials said.
The newborns, 4 boys and 2 girls, each weighing only 1 pound, 6 ounces to 1 pound, 12 ounces and not much bigger than an outstretched hand, were delivered over the weekend at B.C. Women’s Hospital and Health Center.
Citing privacy concerns, hospital officials declined to identify the family or give other details about the births, saying only that they were delivered almost three months premature.
“The babies are in fair condition, which means their vital signs are stable and within normal limits,” said Dr. Liz Whynot, the hospital’s president. She said the parents, who are Jehovah’s Witnesses, are “feeling overwhelmed” and “are focusing all their energy on their new family.”
The first infant was born about 8:30 p.m. Saturday and the others were born early Sunday, she said.
Hospital officials, contacted by The Associated Press on Tuesday, declined to provide the sex of the infants or other details.
The babies are considered on the borderline of viability and have a roughly 80 percent chance of surviving to leave the hospital, said Dr. Brian Lupton, head of neonatal intensive care at the hospital.
Such an early delivery means all the baby’s organs are immature and their underdeveloped immune systems make them more vulnerable to infection. They also face potential neurological and development deficiencies, vision and hearing problems.
“They’re certainly in the best possible hands, that’s the comfort. But they certainly have a long road ahead of them,” said Dr. Timothy Rowe, an obstetrician who heads the division of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at the University of British Columbia. Rowe said naturally conceived sextuplets occur only once in several billion births.
Hospital officials declined to say whether the parents used fertility drugs.
Update January 17, 2007
It is with great saddness that we report the death of one of the Canadian Sextuplets. We pass along our heartfelt condolenses to the parents.
Update January 23, 2007
a second sextuplet has reportedly died according to CKNW, a local radio staion in Vancouver British Columbia. Again our heartfelt condolenses go to the parents of these children.
Updated July 13, 2007
The lawyer for the parents of B.C.'s four surviving sextuplets says the children are at home and doing well.
The lawyer reports the infants have been at home with their parents for a number of months.
He says they're progressing and their parents, who are Jehovah's Witnesses, are very happy to have them out of the hospital.
