The mother of IVF triplets hailed as ‘miracle babies’ has spoken of her joy after all three survived even though two were born eight days after the first at just 26 weeks.
Sarita Saltmarsh and her husband Colin from Sydney, Australia, have spent £20,000 on fertility treatment because the couple were keen to have children after meeting in 2008.
Their first daughter, Yasmin, was born suddenly at home on February 28. Within minutes of the first birth, four ambulances arrived outside – one for each triplet and one for the mother.
But to the paramedics’ astonishment, the remaining two babies stayed inside Mrs Saltmarsh. It took a over a week for them to be born.
After the birth of Yasmin, Mrs Saltmarsh was admitted to hospital and eight days later, after a second natural labour, she gave birth to Yasmin’s brother, Suntaj, and sister Zarine, around 20 minutes apart.
Mrs Saltmarsh had to have all three placentas removed manually, battled an infection and lost a significant amount of blood.
Medical experts say the double labour phenomenon is so rare that many obstetricians are not even aware it can happen. Most multiple births come within half an hour of each other if delivered naturally, or just one to two minutes apart if they are caesarean.
Ever since the couple met, Mr and Mrs Saltmarsh have longed to have their own baby. Mrs Saltmarsh has two sons – Sahil, 12, and Simran, 15 – from a previous marriage.
Medical experts say the double labour phenomenon is so rare that many obstetricians are not even aware it can happen. Most multiple births come within half an hour of each other if delivered naturally, or just one to two minutes apart if they are caesarean.
Ever since the couple met, Mr and Mrs Saltmarsh have longed to have their own baby. Mrs Saltmarsh has two sons – Sahil, 12, and Simran, 15 – from a previous marriage.
Yasmin, remains vulnerable but she is progressing well in intensive care. Her younger sister Zarine and brother suntaj are in special care.
Dr Chris Wilkinson, Head of maternal and foetal medicine at Adelaide’s Women’s and Children’s Hospital, said that in rare circumstances such as this, he and his team of experts allow babies to remain in the womb, giving them more time to grow and become stronger.
Mrs Saltmarsh said: ‘It was just miraculous, we feel extremely lucky to have delayed their birth, even just eight days made such a difference, they are much fatter and stronger.’