He came out of his mother’s womb prematurely, and weighed only 268 grams. A Japanese infant is finally released from Keio University Hospital in Tokyo (Japan) unharmed after five months in a care unit, the facility announced. taken back by West France. His birth must have been brought about 22 weeks pregnant due to stunted growth. It was then held in the palm of an adult’s hand. According to known data, never had a boy so small at the time of childbirth left a maternity hospital in good health.
Five months in neonatal service allowed him to increase his weight tenfold, from 268 grams at birth to 3,238 when he left. “I am happy that he gained so much weight, because frankly, I was not sure that he survives”, enthuses his mother, in a message sent to the media. Doctors also said he was drinking his milk normally.
A still low survival rate
The practitioner who followed the infant, Takeshi Arimitsu, says he cares about “ let it be known that even when a baby is born very small, there is a possibility that he may leave maternity in good shape ”. It emphasizes, however, that decisions concerning very premature babies require prudence and ethics.
In 2015, a study by American researchers had established that these babies released too early could survive even when they are born at 22 weeks of pregnancy. Previously, the fetal viability threshold was set at 24 weeks. However, weight plays a particular role in this survival rate. That of newborns weighing less than 300 g is still low, specifies Keio University Hospital, “Especially when it comes to a boy”.
According to an international register maintained by the University of Iowa (United States), previous similar cases of infants born with a weight of less than 300 g, and despite everything in good health, had been recorded. In Germany, for example, a boy was born in 2009 weighing only 274 g. These children must then receive special medical attention.
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