Ireland's first sextuplets born in Belfast were conceived naturally

Six babies born in Belfast yesterday are believed to be the first case of sextuplets in Ireland.

Neonatal consultant Dr Clifford Mayes said the children had been conceived naturally. “This pregnancy isn’t the result of IVF,” he said.

A natural pregnancy involving six babies is extremely rare, happening just once in every 4.5 million pregnancies, according to the medical team.

Last night a hospital spokesman said they were doing “as good as could be expected”.

The four boys and two girls were all delivered by Caesarean section within five minutes by a 30-strong team at the Royal Jubilee Maternity Hospital. The largest child weighed just 950g and the smallest was only 650g. They were 14 weeks premature.

Dr Mayes said: “It is an extraordinary thing to have witnessed but you are also struck by the fact that they are little babies in intensive care. We have planned very carefully for today and today went as well as we had hoped it would.”

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