THE MOTHER who miscarried three of her octuplets would need a "miracle" if any of the remaining babies is to survive, her consultant said yesterday.
Mr Donald Gibb, consultant obstetrician at King's College Hospital, described Ms Mandy Allwood's condition as stable but said that the remaining babies would need at least another five weeks in her womb to have any chance of survival, which he thought would be "unlikely" because her uterus was so stretched.
"There is a certain sense of inevitability about this situation. It's entirely unpredictable. I could go up now and she could miscarry in minutes or hours, but then, maybe nothing will happen," he said.
Ms Allwood (32), who is 19 weeks pregnant, miscarried the first of the three babies at home on Monday. She was then rushed to hospital and is now under constant supervision. Dr Gibb said the three still born babies weighed about 200g each, less than half a pound, and would "fit on the palm of my hand".
After learning of her pregnancy, Ms Allwood, who had received fertility treatment, immediately contacted the News of the World and sold her story for a six figure sum. She recently lost custody of her son, Charlie, to her former husband, Mr Simon Pugh.
The PR publicist, Mr Max Clifford, who had predicted Ms Allwood's story was worth £1 million, said his client had no regrets about ignoring medical advice to abort six of the babies several weeks ago and had held the three babies she had miscarried.
"There have been tears, there were tears through the night but she is a very positive person. She was surprised at how big they were. They were all perfect," he added.