World’s smallest baby born in California
http://www.hrlnews.com/2019/05/worlds-smallest-baby-born-in-california.html
A California hospital has disclosed the birth of the world’s smallest
baby ever to survive, weighing a mere 245 grams (8.6 ounces) — the same
as a large apple — when she was born.
The girl, nicknamed Saybie by hospital staff, was born 23 weeks and
three days into her mother’s pregnancy at Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for
Women and Newborns in San Diego.
The father was told by doctors that he would have about an hour with his daughter before she passed away.
“But that hour turned into two hours which turned into a day, which turned into a week.” the mother said.
Doctors said Saybie was delivered via emergency cesarean section in
December at 23 weeks and three days gestation in the womb after severe
pregnancy complications that put her mother’s life at risk. A typical
pregnancy lasts 40 weeks.
After nearly five months at the hospital’s neonatal intensive care
unit, Saybie was discharged home earlier this month weighing a healthy
five pounds (2.2 kilograms) and sporting a graduation cap.
A nurse holds baby Saybie, the world’s smallest surviving newborn.
Doctors said Saybie was delivered via emergency cesarean section in
December at 23 weeks and three days gestation in the womb after severe
pregnancy complications that put her mother’s life at risk. A typical
pregnancy lasts 40 weeks.
After nearly five months at the hospital’s neonatal intensive care
unit, Saybie was discharged home earlier this month weighing a healthy
five pounds (2.2 kilograms) and sporting a graduation cap.
Emma Wiest, another nurse featured in the video, said Saybie was so small at birth that “you could barely see her on the bed.”
At birth, she weighed as much as a child’s juice box or two sticks of
butter and could fit in the palm of the hands of her caretakers.
“I’d heard that we had such a tiny baby and it sounded unbelievable
because I mean she’s about half of the weight as a normal 23-weeker,”
Wiest said.
Defied the odds
Doctors said that apart from Saybie’s fighting spirit, her survival
as a micro preemie — a baby born before 28 weeks’ gestation — could be
attributed to the fact that she suffered no serious complications after
birth.
“Saybie experienced virtually none of the medical challenges
typically associated with micro preemies, which can include brain
bleeds, and lung and heart issues,” the hospital said.
Saybie’s ranking as the world’s tiniest baby ever to survive is
according to the Tiniest Babies Registry, maintained by the University
of Iowa.
The previous record was held by a baby born in Germany in 2015 who weighed seven grams more than Saybie.
“Every life is a miracle — those that defy the odds even more so,”
Edward Bell, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Iowa who
oversees the registry, told AFP.
In the video released by the hospital, Saybie’s mother said the birth was the scariest day of her life.
She said she was rushed to hospital after feeling ill and was told
she had preeclampsia — a condition marked by very high blood pressure
that puts both the mother and baby’s lives at risk.
“They had to deliver her really quickly and I kept telling them that
she’s not going to survive, she’s only 23 weeks,” the mother, who did
not want to be identified, said.
But against all odds, Saybie did survive.
She nonetheless will still face enormous challenges as a
micro-preemie, including possible respiratory, hearing and vision
problems.