After 13 months of intense treatment, a baby reported being the world’s smallest baby at birth can finally go home. Kwek Yu Xuan was born weighing only 212g (7.47oz) and measuring 24cm in length. Kwek Yu Xuan was born at slightly about 25 weeks, well below the average of 40 weeks.
According to the University of Iowa’s Tiniest Babies Registry, the previous record-holder was a girl born in the United States in 2018 who weighed 245g at birth. Yu Xuan’s mother delivered her four months early through an emergency C-section after being diagnosed with pre-eclampsia. It is a dangerously high blood pressure that can damage crucial organs and prove fatal for both mother and child.
Yu Xuan currently weighs 6.3kg, which is a much healthier weight (14 pounds). According to the National University Hospital (NUH) in Singapore, where the newborn girl was born, she had a “limited chance of survival.”
Smallest baby at birth: A ray of hope amid turmoil
“Against the odds, with health complications present at birth, she has inspired people around her with her perseverance and growth, which makes her an extraordinary ‘COVID-19’ baby – a ray of hope amid turmoil,” the hospital said in a statement.
Yu Xuan received a variety of treatments in the hospital. She had to rely on a variety of machines to stay alive.
Doctors believe her health and development improved significantly while she was under their care. Also, she is healthy enough to go home.
Yu Xuan’s chronic lung condition is still present, and she will require assistance with her breathing at home. Doctors at NUH, on the other hand, believe she will improve with time.
Wong Mei Ling, Yu Xuan’s mother, told local media that Yu Xuan’s birth and size surprised her because her first child, a four-year-old boy, was born at term.
Yu Xuan’s parents were able to pay for her lengthy hospital stay thanks to a S$366,884 ($270,601; £195,188) fundraising effort.
