The quintuplets born last week at the Rotunda maternity hospital in Dublin are all doing extremely well, hospital staff said today.
Two of the five babies, who were born prematurely to Veronica and Kevin Cassidy from Bridgetown in Co Wexford, have now been taken off life support units.
Veronica, who is in excellent health, was able to touch one of her babies for the first time today. Conor, the heaviest of the five, was taken of a ventilator on Monday is breathing with the aid of oxygen. It is hoped he will be able to take solid food tomorrow.
Rory has also been taken off life support, leaving Amy, Cian and Dearbhail on ventilators.
All the children remain under constant supervision in the intensive care unit.
Amy and Dearbhail received specialised care for heart murmurs over the weekend, and hospital staff said they were satisfied at their response to the treatment.
Dr Peter McKenna, Master of the Rotunda, said he was "delighted" at the children’s progress.
"They have done a lot better than we had any right to expect," he said.
Prof Tom Matthews, head of paediatrics at the hospital, said: "World-wide figures show there is a 50 per cent mortality rate for babies born this prematurely, and a 25 per cent handicap rate.
"But they are doing remarkably well. There are a lot of things that could go wrong, but we are very optimistic at this stage."
The babies are still being fed intravenously, as they are not strong enough to eat. "But that will happen," Prof Matthews said.
They will require intensive care for at least three more weeks, and it is hoped the babies will be able to go home to Co Wexford before Christmas.
Ms Sheila Breen, head of intensive care nursing, acknowledged the births had put a huge strain on the hospital’s resources. There are up to 30 nurses involved in round-the-clock care of the five, in addition to paediatric staff, she explained.
"We have other babies requiring care as well, so the unit is very busy."
The babies were not the result of in vitrofertilisation, Dr McKenna said, but fertility treatment was used. He did not elaborate.
Multiple births are becoming more prevalent with modern fertility techniques but a set of quintuplets are still an extreme rarity.
The Rotunda delivers around 60 sets of twins per year and eight or nine sets of triplets, but only three or four sets of quadruplets have been recorded in all of Ireland.
