Early Article talking about the Hayes Sextuplets birth

Police officer and wife celebrating sextuplets
BY LINDA DeNICOLA
Staff Writer



MARLBORO — Family life has changed dramatically for a township family of six that, until two weeks ago, included one mother, one father and two sets of twins, ages 5 and 8. On Sept. 14, the number of family members more than doubled in the two minutes and 47 seconds it took for Elizabeth Hayes, 37, to give birth to sextuplets.

Hayes gave birth to the six babies by Cesarean section at Monmouth Medical Center, Long Branch. Now Hayes and her husband, Eric, 38, are the proud parents of 10 children. The six newborns already have three bothers and a sister.

Eric Hayes is a member of the Marlboro Police Department.

At a press conference held shortly after the birth of the sextuplets, Hayes said he and his wife used fertility drugs to help conceive their children.

In 1997, the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) delivered two sets of quadruplets within six weeks. In 2002, during a six-month period, doctors delivered six sets of triplets and 20 sets of twins.


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A hospital spokesperson said it is believed the Hayes sextuplets are the first surviving set of sextuplets born in New Jersey. The spokesperson said that could not be confirmed.

The six babies — three girls and three boys — weighed in at a total of about 25 pounds. The first to arrive was Tara Rose, 4 pounds 7 ounces; followed by Rachel Ann, 3 pounds 9 ounces; Rebecca Mary, 4 pounds, 3 ounces; Ryan Peter, 4 pounds, 10 ounces; Connor James, 3 pounds 9 ounces; and Eric John Jr., 4 pounds, 8 ounces.

According to a press release from the hospital, maternal fetal medicine specialist David Wallace and his team delivered the babies along with obstetrician-gynecologist Dominick LoBraico, all on the staff of Monmouth Medical Center.

Wallace said, “This was truly a team effort. Monmouth Medical Center put an exceptional plan in place well in advance of the delivery to assure that we could anticipate all of the needs of both mother and babies.”

It is expected that the babies will remain in the hospital for three to six weeks.

Hayes is a Marlboro police officer and one of the department’s DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) officers.

According to Lt. Douglas Van Note, Hayes has been on the force since 1997. Van Note said Hayes’ fellow officers knew that Hayes and his wife were looking forward to multiple births, but they did not know how many until just before the babies were born.

He said Hayes will be taking all of his accumulated leave time and once that is used up, his fellow officers have donated some of their time so the new father can stay home through the end of the year.

“We’re supporting him 100 percent. Whatever their needs are, we will be there to help. Betty and Eric are great parents,” Van Note said.

Van Note explained that as a DARE officer, Hayes goes into local schools to teach children about the pitfalls of drugs and alcohol.

“All of the students adore him,” the lieutenant said, adding that Hayes and his wife both grew up in Marlboro and are respected in the community.

“I have been getting a lot of phone calls from people who want to help them,” Van Note said.

The family will need some help. Right now they are living in a house that Hayes’ grandfather built in the Morganville section of the township that will have to be expanded. They have an Internet Web site where they will post pictures of the babies as soon as they are available, wwwthehayes6.com. The Web site also has a link for donations.

Monmouth Medical Center’s 29-bed NICU is the region’s largest state-designated Level III NICU, offering state-of-the-art technology. The unit provides care to about 500 infants each year.

At the press conference, the director of the medical center presented Hayes with three pink teddy bears, three blue teddy bears and a bunch of balloons, along with six $100 savings bonds for the babies to help start their college funds.