Mother has twins at the double

The older twins are glad to have two new little sisters

New mother Charlotte Kelly is seeing double after amazingly giving birth to a second set of identical twins.

Doctors at Sunderland Royal Hospital told the 22-year-old youth worker the odds of having a second set of identical twin girls was 500,000 to 1.

Her mother Ann, 53, a care home worker, spent the first night with her two baby grand daughters, to give Ms Kelly a well-earned rest.

Ms Kelly was five months pregnant before she heard she was to give birth to another set of twins.

She said: "I had an early scan and all indications were that I was having just one baby. When I went in for a scan at five months they told me there was two and I just started to cry.

"I knew how hard it was coping with two babies the first time."

Hour feeding

She gave birth to her twins Jane and Jennifer on 27 November 1998 weighing 7lbs 10ozs and 6lbs 1oz respectively.

This time she once again went the full term of her pregnancy and on 30 July at 1405 BST Emily was born weighing 8lbs 12ozs. Two minutes later Ruth came into the world weighing 7lbs 2ozs.

Recovering at her mum's home in Shiney Row, near Sunderland, Ms Kelly said: "It is very, very, hard having twins the first time and this time it is going to be even harder.

"But I have all the support and love I need from my family. Mum had the first sleepless night and she was up until about 0300 BST with the girls so I could get some sleep.

"They need to be fed every four to six hours and it takes about an hour to feed each of them.

Baby equipment

"The rest of the time I have I have to try to give time to the older two but they are a great help, they are absolutely thrilled to have a couple of little sisters, especially with them being twins like themselves.

"It is a very unusual situation. The doctors told me the chances were one in half-a-million.

"But twins run in our family. My grandma's aunt had twins and it looks as though I have inherited that gene but I certainly won't be having any more.

"There is just so much stuff you need, it is hard enough having one baby at time. But multiply all the equipment - bathing stuff, clothes, and so on - by two and it gets hard. Then, for me, it is doubled again."

Ms Kelly was soon able to hold and feed her new arrivals but it was a number of days before she recovered and was able to leave the hospital for the first time on 3 August.