Doctors ‘amazed’ as woman gives birth to octuplets

A Californian resident has become only the second woman to give birth to eight living octuplets in the history of the United States.

The unnamed woman gave birth to six boys and two girls on Monday, surprising doctors at the Kaiser Permanente hospital in Bellflower who expected seven.

Weighing between 1.8 and 3.4 pounds, the babies were delivered by Caesarean-section and are now in incubators.

Three needed help with their breathing, but all eight were generally in good health.

Dr Karen Maples, head of obstetrics and gynaecology at the hospital, said it was a “truly amazing delivery”.

Explaining her shock at the eighth child, she added: “After we got to Baby G, we were surprised by the discovery of a Baby H.”

Only one other American woman is known to have given birth to live-born octuplets, although one child later died, in 1998.

Last week the children celebrated their tenth birthdays.