A married couple from Bewdley have shared their joy after defying the odds to welcome one of the most premature sets of identical triplets ever to be born in Britain.
River, Beau and Leo arrived ten weeks early when they were born within six minutes of each other at Worcestershire Royal Hospital on January 16 this year.
Parents Lauren and Jack Mountain had been shocked to learn at their 12 week scan they not not only expecting their first child – but their first three.
They were overjoyed when their incredibly rare trio of boys arrived safely into the world after being delivered by emergency C-section.
Mr and Mrs Mountain said they have been told the odds of having naturally conceived identical triplets is one in 200 million.
Mrs Mountain aged 28, who works as a sustainability adviser, said: “When we found out we were having triplets it was a complete shock, we couldn’t believe it.
“It was pretty hard to process and get our heads around it as there are no twins or multiples in the family.
“They were sharing a placenta so we were told it would be a high risk pregnancy. We were a bit scared and a bit nervous.
“We were worried about how we would manage having three at the same time because Jack is an only child and we had always envisaged having a small family ourselves.
“It took a few weeks to process then we became really excited.
“The birth actually went really well, it was a healthy birth. There were only six minutes between them. River was at 6.59am, Beau at 7.04am and Leo at 7.06am.
“It was a hectic few minutes to say the least.
“Three identical is very rare. There are a lot of numbers going round but have heard everything between one in 200 million to one in two million.”
Beau and Leo have now returned home with their mum and dad while River remains in hospital as he still requires breathing assistance.
