Tasmania has welcomed its first identical triplets in many years, with the trio of tiny newborns arriving at the Royal Hobart Hospital on the second day of the new year.
First-time parents Keely Walsh and Mathew Alves met their little bundles of joy at 4:59pm, 5pm and 5:01pm on January 2.
The babies, delivered by C-section at 32 weeks, each tipped the scales at 1.5 kilograms.
“They’re feeding great, they’re doing great, they’re healthy,” Alves said.
“We could do skin-to-skin contact on the second day, it was a magical moment for our little family.”
According to the Department of Health, it is “incredibly rare” to naturally conceive identical triplets. It is thought the babies could be the state’s first identical triplets in a decade.
Mum Walsh said she had both endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome and was told her chances of naturally conceiving children were “pretty low”.
“We definitely approve the doctor’s role on that one,” she said.
“We had tests done and I’ve been taking the supplements they recommended and fell pregnant within three months of trying.”
The couple chose the names Aurora, Niara and Moana for their daughters.
Aurora is a nod to Alves’ Portuguese roots and the Southern Lights, Niara is an Aboriginal name for ‘Spirit’ and Moana means ‘ocean’ in Hawaiian.
