Prayers for sextuplet survivors as one dies

The six – four girls and two boys – were born on Friday last week to Andy and Vicky Lamb, both 31, from Oxford.

Mr Clifford said: "I've just spoken to the parents. They've told me that one of the little boys died earlier on today.

"They are hoping and praying that the others are going to survive."

The babies, delivered 14 weeks early, were said to be in a critical condition earlier yesterday.

Their parents were said to have been hoping for a "small miracle" as the sextuplets fought for their lives.

Mrs Lamb gave birth shortly after 11pm on Friday last week. She became pregnant after taking the same fertility drug she used before first child Gracie, now five, was conceived.

She and her husband Andy have been anxiously waiting for good news as the tiny babies, whose birth weights ranged from 1lb 5oz (590g) to 1lb 15oz (885g), struggled to survive.

Mr Clifford said of the five surviving babies: "They're all fighting for survival."

Live births of sextuplets are rare, occurring about once in every 4.5 million pregnancies.

According to the Multiple Births Foundation charity, the last surviving set of sextuplets in Britain was born in 1993.