PTI
BEIJING, March 11
A premature baby in China, who was born smaller than a diaper, has survived and was discharged from a hospital on Friday after nearly three months of treatment.
Weighing just 630 grammes, the baby was born to his 29-year-old mother Tang after six miscarriages.
After Ms. Tang became pregnant for the eighth time, her doctor tried to persuade her to abort the baby as, even if the pregnancy went full term, there would be risks in delivery. “I don’t want to die with regret,” Ms. Tang recalled. “I decided to make one last-ditch attempt.”
Ms. Tang had to quit her job and was bed bound for most of her pregnancy.
But, still the foetus grew very slowly, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Last November, Ms. Tang was diagnosed with serious eclampsia, which put her and her unborn baby in great danger. “Please, take care of the baby first,” she told her doctor.“I want to mother so much, at least let me give the gift of life.” Her son was delivered by c-section.
He weighed the same as two big apples, and was just 35 centimetres long.
“It was the smallest baby I have ever seen,” said Ms. Tang’s doctor Zhang Ying.
“His head was the same size as my fist, and his arms were as thick as a thumb. A diaper could almost cover him.”
Premature babies are not unknown in China.
In 2014, a 660—gram girl, Li Siyuan, was born, her body was about the length of a chopstick.
She only survived for 19 days. About 1.8 million premature babies are born every year in China.
Their organs are often not well developed, and this reduces their chance of survival.
Ms. Tang’s baby boy was six weeks premature and his lungs were not developed enough so he was kept in an incubator, and feed through a drip. However, over the past three months, he has flourished and now weighs 2.5 kg.
Zhang Ying said the baby’s nervous and cognitive systems are developing normally.
