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American Morning

Septuplets Born at Georgetown University Hospital

Aired July 13, 2001 - 09:01   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to begin with new beginnings this morning. How about seven babies worth of new beginnings, five boys and two girls. A woman gave birth to septuplets last night at Georgetown University Hospital and that's where we find our medical correspondent Rea Blakey. She is live in Washington with the latest on this multiple birth.

Rea, good morning times seven to you.

REA BLAKEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. Well, thank you very much.

We plan to be getting over to Georgetown very shortly. In fact, there is an 11:00 news conference that's planned to give us more details about how this incredible pregnancy was achieved. I can tell you that there are five boys, two girls. They were delivered at 11:25 last evening at the NICU, that's the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Georgetown.

The mother, we're told, is in good condition this morning. Dr. Helaine Landy (ph) and 24 other team members helped deliver these seven babies by cesarean section. Each of them at this hour has a medical SWAT team watching over them, a series of neonatologists, respiratory therapists, nurses, fellows, pediatricians, neonatologists, practitioners. There's a whole squadron of people who are making sure that these babies are doing as well as can be expected.

But, I tell you, at this hour, Daryn, a little bit more about the two main approaches in regards to fertility. There is in vitro fertilization in which usually two to three eggs are fertilized outside the mother's womb and then the embryos are implanted. And then transition the issue of ovulation induction. That is where patients take medication to increase the number of eggs they will produce and then usually doctors will watch by sonogram to count the number of follicles, which helps them predict how many eggs might be created and then there is natural fertilization inside the womb.

Usually somewhere around eight to nine weeks of a pregnancy, a mother has to decide whether or not she will undergo selective reduction, depending on the number of embryo that are available. We are told by fertility experts that basically, generally, 15 percent of these cases that are ovulation induction cases result in twins. Somewhere around one to three percent result in triplets. So in order to get septuplets there must have been a real miracle at play here, Daryn.

KAGAN: Rea, thank you. We'll look forward to hearing more about these new babies and that news conference later this morning. Rea Blakey in Washington, thank you.

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