American woman gives birth to record eight babies

Washington, Jan 27: A Californian woman has made history after giving birth to six boys and two girls on Monday morning, Jan 26. It is believed to be only the second time in history that live octuplets have been born and survived more than a few hours.

The mother, who was not identified, was reportedly is without harm after giving birth to all the eight babies in a span of five minutes at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Southern California. Doctors had expected seven babies. Dr Mandhir Gupta told the three to seven days will be critical for the babies. The infants could be in incubators for six to eight weeks and in the hospital for 10 weeks, Gupta added.

"It's a surprise. Eight newborns are in stable condition and they're doing quite well," CBS News quoted Dr Karen Maples, chief of the hospital's obstetrics and gynecology department as saying. Kaiser spokeswoman Myra Suarez added: 'They are all doing the best they can. The first baby was born at 10:43 a.m.; the eighth one at 10:48 a.m." 'It was a truly amazing delivery,' added Dr Karen Maples.

The eight tiny tots weight ranges from 1 pound 8 ounces to 3 pounds 4 ounces. The babies are in incubators following their Cesarean delivery. Doctors had believed the mother was pregnant with seven fetuses. She was hosptialised when she was 23 weeks and was asked to take bed rest.

Over a seven-week period, a team of 46 physicians, nurses and other staff prepared for the births. "After we got to Baby G, we were surprised by the discovery of a Baby H," Maples said. Getting the number correct with ultrasounds before delivery is difficult with so many babies, said Dr Harold Henry, the hospital's chief of fetal medicine.

'It is quite easy to miss a baby when you're expecting seven,' Henry said. This is the second set of live-born octuplets in the US. Eight babies believed to be the United States' first set of live octuplets were born in Houston, Texas, in 1998. One of the infants died days after birth.

The seven other siblings recently celebrated their 10th birthday, the Houston Chronicle reported last month. "Mother is very excited that she [has] all these babies and that the babies are looking good so far," Dr Gupta added.

OneIndia News (With inputs from Agencies)