Bethany Smith, 26, was stunned to find out she had become pregnant and was expecting triplets despite wearing an IUD. The triplets were born at 31 weeks of pregnancy and were separated from their mother due to the ᴄᴏʀᴏɴᴀᴠɪʀᴜs.
According to the NHS, the IUD lasts between five and ten years, depending on the type, and is 99% effective at preventing pregnancy.
The copper IUD works for ten years and is a small ‘T’ shaped copper element that can be inserted into the ᴜᴛᴇʀᴜs by a doctor or nurse. Copper prevents sᴘᴇʀᴍ from surviving or reaching and ꜰᴇʀᴛɪʟɪᴢɪɴɢ an ᴇɢɢ, according to dailystar.co.uk. Bethany and Kay both say that twins or triplets don’t run in their families, so they were very surprised to hear the news. The triplets were born early at 31 weeks of gestation on April 4 at Derby Royal Infirmary. The lungs of the newborns were so weak that they had to be immediately connected to ᴀʀᴛɪꜰɪᴄɪᴀʟ ᴠᴇɴᴛɪʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴ.
For this reason, in the first days, Bethany and Kay could not see the triplets – there was no ʀɪsᴋ that the little ones would get infected with the ᴄᴏʀᴏɴᴀᴠɪʀᴜs. The girls weighed between 1.5 and 1.7 kg, with Kirit being the heaviest and Kiren the least.
Bethany told the Derby Telegraph: “It was really scary. I couldn’t be with the girls for the first two days because they were on ᴠᴇɴᴛɪʟᴀᴛᴏʀs. Only one parent could visit them once a day, and we had to wear masks, suits and gloves. It was an incredible situation, I would never have imagined it.”
The pregnancy was not entirely smooth – at 26 weeks, Bethany began to have contractions. Fortunately, the hospital was able to stop them. Newborns born five weeks premature had to spend another three weeks in the hospital – only then could they go home with their parents.
Dad Kay told The Sun: “When they were born it was very ᴘᴀɪɴꜰᴜʟ because I couldn’t be with them and Bethany was also separated from them. She had to be treated in another department of the hospital. It was really hard not being to be kiss them like we wanted to.” Thankfully, the little ones are now growing up at home with mom and dad. Kay added, “They’re a real miracle.”
