Triplets returned to the hospital where they were born 18 years ago to thank the staff who delivered them.

The Patel family, from Colindale, visited Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow - the same hospital where mum, Jaya Patel, also works as an administrator.

The three 18-year-olds, Jayna, Jinesh and Jitesh were born two months premature in 2000.

Jaya said: “It was tough because we weren’t allowed to pick them up for several weeks - but the staff were fantastic.”

Due to the difficulty of the birth Jaya had to have a caesarean.

All three infants weighed just over two kilograms each - Jaya could even fit them all in one hand.

She said: “We knew we were having triplets.

"We were very excited as well as a bit scared to see how we were going to cope, but the excitement was always there.”

Jaya and her husband Manoj had to make daily trips to the hospital’s neonatal unit.

Reminiscing about the experience, Jaya said: “I was in every day for 10 weeks.

“We were always informed about anything that might have happened in the night.

“There was one nurse per child so we got to know them better.

“They were very understanding in how a stressful time it was for us as we could not hold our babies for quite a few weeks.”

Now that the children are adults Jaya said that the triplets wanted to see where it all began.

The triplets, two boys and a girl, are currently completing their A-levels and hope to study geography, computer science and finance at university.