Quads born in Bern

All four babies, of whom no photos are available, are doing well Keystone

Quadruplets have been delivered in Bern, the first in Switzerland for more than four years. The pregnancy and birth had gone “really well” given the difficult conditions of the coronavirus pandemic, the hospital said.

The three boys and one girl – Katharina, Theodor, Amadeus and Samuel – each weighed 1-1.5kg (2.2-3.3lb) at birth, said Daniel Surbek, chief physician of the Insel Hospital’s gynaecological clinic.

While their mother will be able to go home in two days, the children will stay until they weigh 2-2.5kg, he said on Friday.

The four babies were delivered by Caesarean section at the beginning of the eighth month of pregnancy. More than 20 specialist doctors and nurses looked after the mother during the delivery.

Rare event

The last time quads were born in Switzerland, which sees around 88,000 lives births a year, was more than four years ago, the hospital said.

A studyExternal link in 2011 found that the incidence of quadruplet and quintuplet births in Switzerland had fallen over the previous two decades, while that of triplet births had risen by 40%.

There have been at least three reported sets of quintuplets in Switzerland and no sextuplets or more. Globally, the highest number of surviving births is eight (octuplets).