THE mum who gave birth to octuplets already has SIX kids including twins.

They are living with grandparents while the mother recovers in hospital after delivering six boys and two girls on Monday.

All were breathing unaided last night and in a stable condition.

Five began bottle feeding yesterday and the other three were expected to be able to take food soon.

The identity of the mum, believed to be Hispanic, is being kept secret.

She is recovering well, a spokeswoman said at the Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Center, California.

The babies were born nine weeks early and are believed to be only the second set of live octuplets born in America. The revelation that the mother already has six children will heighten speculation that she has had fertility treatment.

And it will spark questions about why a mother of six would receive help to conceive again.

Michael Tucker, a leading US researcher in infertility treatment, said: If a medical practitioner had anything to do with it theres some degree of inappropriate medical therapy there.

Yesterday the mother of Americas first octuplets said they were all praying for the new batch. Nigerian Nkem Chukwu gave birth in Houston, Texas, in 1998 aged 27.