LOS ANGELES: A California hospital on Wednesday 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.

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. After nearly five months at the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit, Saybie was discharged home earlier this month weighing a healthy five pounds (2.2kgs).

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’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.

She nonetheless will still face enormous challenges as a micro-preemie, including possible respiratory, hearing and vision problems.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2019