Allina doctor answers: what are the odds of a multiple birth?

[WCCO-TV, March 15, 2011] Four identical twins from Buffalo, Minnesota are now starring in a documentary-style reality show about their life.  They are one of 63 sets of identical quadruplets in the world. Clearly rare. But what are the odds of having a multiple birth?

“Naturally quadruplet births occur only in 1 per 500,000 births, only a few a year in the country,” said Dr. Bill Block, a perinatal specialist at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis.  “Not very high. They’re about Powerball odds.”