The smallest premature baby ever born in the world and survived is now healthy enough to go home, Sharp Mary Birch Hospital announced Wednesday.
The baby, nicknamed “Saybie” to protect the family’s privacy, was born in December 2018 at 23 weeks, three days gestation weighing only 8.64 ounces— roughly the weight of an apple. A typical pregnancy is around 40 weeks.
“No one expects their baby to be born with complications,” Sharp Mary Birch CEO Trisha Khaleghi said. Sharp’s advanced life support team and neonatologist worked hard to care for the baby, the hospital said in a press release.
Saybie is considered a “micro preemie.” The previous smallest baby to survive was born in Germany in 2015 at 8.89 ounces, according to the official Tiniest Babies Registry maintained by the University of Iowa.
It was not clear if Saybie would survive at first. Her primary care physician, Dr. Paul Wozniak, said when born she was not able to use her lungs so they had to insert a breathing tube.
“We told the folks for the first week it’s going to be hour by hour and she was really quite sick the first week or so — then fortunately got better and better,” Wozniak said.
Despite being born premature doctors said Saybie is in good health, but she will continue to be monitored for years.
“Follow her up through grade school to do special developmental tests and if she has … speech (issues) or something then interviene right then and there to maximize her good outcome,” Wozniak said.
Saybie was born via emergency cesarean section because she was not gaining weight and was endangering the life of her mother.
She is now a healthy 5-pound, 5-month-old baby and experienced virtually none of the complications usual for a premature baby of her size.
“It’s not always this fortunate — but she really is one in a million,” Wozniak said.
