BELLFLOWER, Calif. — A woman gave birth to eight babies Monday, the world’s second live-born set of octuplets.
The mother, who was not identified, gave birth to six boys and two girls weighing between 1 pound, 8 ounces and 3 pounds, 4 ounces, doctors at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center said.
The hospital had set a cesarean section for seven babies, but the eighth was a surprise.
“My eyes got to be the size of saucers,” Dr. Karen Maples told The Los Angeles Times. “We just went on and delivered the babies.”
She said the babies were in stable condition and would be in the hospital for at least two months. She said the mother should be released in a week.
Kaiser spokeswoman Myra Suarez said she could not release any information about the mother, including her condition or whether she used fertility drugs. Such drugs make multiple births more likely.
“They are all doing the best they can,” Suarez said.
The first baby came at 10:43 a.m.; No. 8 was at 10:48 a.m.
“They were all screaming and kicking around very vigorously,” Dr. Harold Henry told a local TV station.
The first live-born octuplets were born in Houston in 1998, and one baby died about a week later. The surviving siblings — girls Ebuka, Gorom, Chidi, Chima and Echerem, and their brothers Ikem and Jioke — celebrated their 10th birthday last month.
