Remembering St. Cloud Hospital’s First Triplets

In 2021, St. Cloud Hospital’s Birthing Center welcomed 62 multiple births, coming a long way since delivering the first set of twins in 1936. It wasn’t until May 25, 1953, that St. Cloud Hospital delivered its first set of triplet boys to Everett and Ardith Kranz, pictured.

In the photo, Sister Francis Xavier Forster, OSB, the chief administrator of St. Cloud Hospital, presents the triplet sons and their parents gifts from the hospital.

The new parents said they were surprised to hear they were expecting triplets, “X-ray clearly indicated that Mrs. Kranz would have triplets, but they still found it difficult to believe,” according to a St. Cloud Times article from 1953, “First Trio Born in 25 Years.”

The triplets were all born within five minutes and weighed roughly five pounds each. They were temporarily placed inside of an incubator before being transported to a cradle in the nursery.

So far in 2022, St. Cloud Hospital has delivered more than 665 babies including 15 multiple births. A multiple birth event is any pregnancy with twins or more. It is considered a high-risk pregnancy. St. Cloud Hospital is home to the largest birthing center in Central Minnesota and is equipped to handle both high and low-risk pregnancies.