Sextuplets

The birth of sextuplets to a couple in Oxfordshire has been trumpeted in the media, and many people will inevitably assume that the babies must be the product of IVF. In fact, multiple pregnancies of this order after IVF do not happen in the UK, as our system is carefully regulated to ensure that babies born after assisted conception have the best possible chance of a healthy life.

These six tiny babies were born prematurely, each weighing less than two pounds, and their chances of survival now hang in the balance despite round the clock medical care.

The mother in this case had taken a fertility drug - quite possibly Clomid - and it is here that many multiple birth problems lie. The use of fertility drugs by themselves is unregulated in the UK. People can get them from a GP or they can even be purchased online, and in these cases the ovaries are not always scanned and monitored to ensure that there is no chance of a risky pregnancy with triplets or more. Although our fertility services are sometimes criticised for being too closely regulated, this is one area where we could do with a little more regulation in order to ensure that dangerous high-order multiple pregnancies become a thing of the past.