Baby who weighed the same as an apple heads for home
A BABY girl who weighed the same as an apple when she was born five months ago has gone home from a San Diego hospital.
The baby, known only as Saybie, is believed to be the smallest child to have survived a premature birth after weighing 8.6oz (245g) when she was born in December at Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women and Newborns, the hospital said in a statement this week.
She weighed little more than a large golden delicious apple, which is usually about 7.5oz, and is believed to have broken the record for the world’s tiniest baby, according to the Tiniest Babies Registry, which is maintained by the University of Iowa and recognises infants who survived after being born at a weight of less than 400g.
The previous smallest was a baby who weighed 8.9oz when she was born in Germany in 2015.
In December, Saybie’s mother, who wishes to remain anonymous, gave birth through emergency caesarean section following a gestation period of 23 weeks, 3 days – about 17 weeks earlier than the typical pregnancy. The hospital said: “Doctors said the pre-term birth was necessary after they found that the baby was not gaining weight and her mother’s life was at immediate risk.”
Saybie was known as a micro preemie – a baby weighing less than 800g or born before 26 weeks’ gestation – and treated in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit until she was discharged weighing 2.5kg (5.6lb).
“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.