The 13-month survival of the world's tiniest baby, weighing almost the same as an apple, is finally over after the hospital she has stayed in since birth discharged her.
According to an Independent report, the baby, born premature, is now in a much healthier condition after more than a year.
At the time of Kwek Yu Xuan's birth on June 9, 2020, at the Singapore-based National University Hospital, her weight was only 212 grams, and her length was only 24 centimeters long.
The Strait Times reported that the baby girl was born at her mother's sixth month of pregnancy, although her weight was even lower than what the doctors expected.
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The World's Tiniest Baby
As indicated in the University of Iowa's Tiniest Babies Registry, this girl is believed to be the tiniest baby to survive all over the world, a record held by a baby girl in the United States, weighing 245 grams at birth in 2018.
The survival journey of the baby girl, though. Was not easy. She needed to stay at the hospital for 13 months to undergo treatment and rely on a ventilator to be able to breathe as her organs were not completely functioning.
But when the hospital discharged Yu Xuan, she was already weighing; the newspaper reported she was already weighing 6.3 kilograms.
Advanced practice nurse Zhang Suhe, from the department of neonatology at NUH, said that she hadn't seen such a tiny newborn baby in more than two decades in the nursing profession. She added she was shocked and therefore asked a professor in the same department if he could believe it.
Yu Xuan's 13-month hospital stay also makes her the longest-staying baby at NUH. Her mother delivered her via an emergency Cesarean section three months ahead due to a condition known as pre-eclampsia that could have put the baby girl's life in danger.
Born Premature
The baby's mother, Wong Mei Ling, said in a Strait Times report, she did not expect to deliver the baby so quickly, and they were quite sad that Yu Xuan was born very tiny.
Because of her condition, the mother said, she did not have a choice. She added they could hope that their baby would continue to grow, not being healthy.
The mother also said Yu Xuan was tiny that even the calculation for medication needed to be lessened to the decimal points.
According to the National University Hospital, the baby girl had a limited chance of surviving. In a statement issued by the hospital, it was stated that against the odds, with health complications present when the baby was born, she has been an inspiration to people around her.
Survival Rate
According to Healthline, if the baby is premature, he is "in good company," as around one in every 10 babies is born in the US prematurely.
Preterm birth occurs at least three weeks prior to the estimated 40-week due date and thus, prior to the 37th week of pregnancy. That said, preterm is a range.
Meaning, the range may come as extremely preterm or before 28 weeks, very premature or 28 to 32 weeks, moderate preterm or 32 to 34 weeks, and late preterm or 34 to 37 weeks.
In addition, how early the baby is born makes a difference in the kind of interventions they might require. The more premature a newborn is, the higher the odds of some complications.
A report about the world's smallest baby being discharged by the hospital after 13 months is shown on BBC News's YouTube video below:
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