A mother who was expecting triplets found out she was going to have quadruplets halfway through her pregnancy while the father of her children passed out in the delivery room from shock.
Gemma Robson, 35, of Whitburn, South Tyneside, was already stunned to be told she was having triplets at her 12-week scan earlier this year, but if that wasn’t enough, at her 17-week scan, she found that her doctor had miscounted – there was a fourth!
A month earlier than scheduled, Gemma gave birth to her four daughters, Dani, Skye, Mia and Taylor, in November. Quadruplets occur in about one in 700,000 pregnancies.
Gemma and her partner, Andy Raine, had planned for one so they were amazed when they found they were having three, and then, not even two months later, a fourth.
Mr Raine said “I couldn’t believe it when we were told we were having quadruplets, and I nearly fainted. But it’s an amazing feeling to now see them here”.
Each baby only weighs 3lbs and although they are healthy, they need extra care
The babies were supposed to be delivered on 7 December but came almost a month before the planned delivery on 18 November.
Gemma said “On Friday night I felt a bit of discomfort, but with four babies in there I thought they were just moving around. However, on Saturday morning I woke up and couldn’t stand up”.
“My waters hadn’t broken but I could feel my contractions had started and so we drove to Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI)”.
Mr Raine said “I was in a bit of shock in the delivery room and I don’t really remember the arrival of the babies as I passed out and woke up on a pillow on the floor”.
“By the time I came round, all four had been born and it was an amazing feeling to see them. They are healthy, but small and premature and so it was only on Tuesday that I had the chance to hold Skye, which was brilliant”.
While all the babies are okay, because there were so many and they were born prematurely, each weighed only 3lbs and were in need of neo-natal care.
“You can’t get a pram which holds four babies”
Because of a shortage of premature care beds, two of the babies were taken to the James Cook Hospital in Middlesbrough while two remained at the Royal Victoria Infirmary.
“I still don’t think I’ve processed it all yet. I’ve a mixture of emotions in that I’m glad they all came out okay and it’s a big relief as they were becoming very heavy to carry, but you obviously do still worry that they will be okay”, Gemma added.
“You can’t get a pram which holds four babies and so we are looking at two doubles”, Mr Raine said.
Ms Robson added “I’m really looking forward to having all the girls home, but it is quite daunting going from one child to five”.
All four babies were transferred to Sunderland Royal Hospital on 22 November where they will receive care for a minimum of 12 weeks.
Right To Life UK spokesperson Catherine Robinson said “The couple must be so happy to have had all their daughters born in time for Christmas. Not many people can say that they had quadruplets for Christmas.”
