World

The record-breaking, mini miracle baby born in Tokyo and weighing the same as a large onion, has gone home healthy. He is the smallest newborn baby in the world to leave the hospital safely. Weighing just 268 grams when he was delivered at 24 weeks after the stopped growing in the womb, he was so small that he could fit in an adult’s cupped hands.

After five months of treatment, he now weighs 3.238 kilos, is feeding normally, and has been discharged, Keio University Hospital in Tokyo said. “I can only say I’m happy that he has grown this big because honestly, I wasn’t sure he could survive,” the boy’s mother said.

Doctor Takeshi Arimitsu, who treated the infant said he wanted to tell people that “there is a possibility that babies will be able to leave the hospital in good health even though they are born small”. Keio University Hospital said the boy was believed to now hold the record for the smallest newborn boy to be discharged from a hospital in good health.

The record was previously held by a boy born in Germany in 2009 weighing just 274 grams, the hospital said, citing a registry put together by University of Iowa for the world’s tiniest surviving babies. The baby was discharged last week, two months after his initial due date.

Source: AFP Relax News

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