NBC 4: 4 for the Fourth; LA Mom Gives Birth to Quadruplets on Fourth

NBC 4, Fox 11 and KTLA 5 recently interviewed mother Sara Kahan Gutovich and father Jay Gutovich after the happy couple welcomed four babies born on the Fourth of July.

The quadruplets “were the fireworks,” said Sara Gutovich. The couple already have a 3-year-old son.

“I’m speechless,” her husband said.

Quadruplets are extremely rare, occurring in only 1 in 700,000 pregnancies. Multiple births have a higher than normal chance of complications for both mother and babies. Women pregnant with quadruplets face a 90% risk of developing preeclampsia, a dangerous pregnancy complication characterized by high blood pressure. Because the quadruplets were delivered by cesarean section about five weeks early, physicians and nurses are caring for the babies in the Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

Bevin Merideth, RN, associate director of the NICU, said the babies were the first set of quadruplets she can remember in the 25 years she has been taking care of the medical center’s smallest patients.

“Our team is monitoring the babies’ progress and looking forward to the day when they have grown enough to leave the hospital and go home with their family,” Merideth said. “We are proud of our skilled and talented staff, who provide highly specialized care and support for our patients and their families.”

The “Quad Squad,” as the parents are calling their new babies, arrived on the heels of a twin baby boom in the NICU, with 10 sets of twins recently in the unit at the same time. The spate of multiple births is reason for a special birthday party next year, Merideth said.

“We look forward to hearing from these parents and seeing photos as all of our twins and the quads progress at home,” Merideth said. “Perhaps next year at this time we’ll have a reunion with 24 one-year-olds.”

Click these links to watch the NBC 4 story, the Fox 11 story and the KTLA 5 story.