Samikhsya Bureau
A hospital in San Diego in California has announced the birth of a micropreemie, a baby born before 28 weeks. It is world’s tiniest surviving baby, who weighed just 8.6 ounces and was smaller than an apple.
Baby Saybie — a name used by her care team — was born in December 2018 and discharged this month from the Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women and Newborns as a healthy five-pound infant, the hospital said in a news release on Wednesday.
Saybie is believed to be the world’s smallest surviving newborn, according to the Tiniest Babies Registry, which is maintained at the University of Iowa.
“Baby Saybie has the lowest birth weight among the infants in the Tiniest Babies Registry,” Dr. Edward Bell of the University of Iowa told National Public Radio (NPR), USA’s leading non-profit media house. “The registry contains only those infants submitted and medically confirmed. We cannot rule out even smaller infants who have not been reported to the registry.”
Saybie’ mother gave birth via emergency cesarean section at 23 weeks’ gestation. She weighed seven grams less than the previous smallest surviving newborn, who was born in Germany in 2015, according to the hospital. “She was small and fragile, and could fit in the palm of the hands of her care team,” Fox News quoted the hospital.
Th mother described Saybie’s delivery “the scariest day of my life”, according to a video released by the hospital. “I just felt very uncomfortable, and I thought, maybe this was part of the pregnancy,” the video quoted her saying.
According to the hospital, the doctors said the premature birth was necessary because Saybie was not gaining weight and her mother’s life was at risk. That early a birth comes with a host of life-threatening medical challenges, the hospital said. “Saybie experienced virtually none of the medical challenges typically associated with micropreemies, which can include brain bleeds and lung and heart issues,” it said.
According to the hospital authorities, Saybie was discharged as a healthy 5-pound infant. They told NPR that a mix of the right genetics, good luck and “a more inexplicable factor” helped the world’s tiniest baby to overcome odds. “She’s a miracle. That’s for sure,” NPR quoted Kim Norby, a nurse in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit, as saying.
The hospital said the baby’s family gave permission to share their story but wished to remain anonymous.
