Quads delivered in Bern hospital

A 28-year-old woman has given birth to quadruplets in Switzerland, an event that happens on average once a year in the country.

The mother and four babies, who were born in the 30th week of pregnancy, are doing well under the circumstances, according to Bern’s Inselspital.

A 2003 study by the neonatal unit at Zurich University Hospital, reported that between 1995 and 1998, 100 triplet and four quadruplet deliveries were registered; there were no quintuplet or sextuplet deliveries.

The study calculated that the incidence in Switzerland of triplet deliveries was one in 3,247 live births and that of quadruplet deliveries was one in 81,186 live births.

Figures issued by the Federal Statistics Office for 2007 show that 74,500 children were born in Switzerland, up 1.5 per cent on 2006, and the highest figure since 2001.

According to the “Facts about Multiples” website (see link), there have been three reported sets of quintuplets in Switzerland and no sextuplets or more, although in 1988 a Swiss woman reportedly miscarried 12 foetuses.

The highest number of surviving births is eight (octuplets); ten (decaplets) is the highest that have ever been born (all died).

swissinfo.ch with agencies