What is the worlds most premature baby to survive?

Answer 1

A premature baby is an infant born before 37 weeks of pregnancy.

Often, the cause of preterm delivery is unknown and not within the mother's control. Sometimes it's caused by the mother's health conditions or lifestyle choices during pregnancy, such as having Diabetes, hypertension, heart or kidney problems, an infection, poor nutrition during the pregnancy, or bleeding due to a low positioning of the placenta. Drug, alcohol and tobacco use also contribute to premature birth.

Preterm deliveries occur more often in women younger than 19 or older than 40, and among those with a previous preterm delivery. However, any woman can have a baby prematurely, and many who do have no known risk factors.

Preemies are born with many special needs which is why they often begin their lives in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The NICU is designed to limit stress to the infant and meet their basic needs of warmth, nutrition, and protection to allow proper growth and development.

Due to recent advancements in neonatal care of the preemie - more than 60% of the tiniest (500 grams) now survive and 90% of those who weigh 2 lbs (800 grams) at birth will survive and thrive.

Premature babies lack the body fat necessary to maintain their body temperature. So incubators or radiant warmers are used to keep them warm in the NICU. Keeping babies' temperatures within a normal range will help them grow faster.

Premature babies have special nutritional needs because they grow at a faster rate than full-term babies and their digestive systems are immature. They lack the ability to suck on their own and most premature infants have to be fed slowly because of the risk of developing necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), an intestinal infection - so they are fed by a tube that goes directly to the stomach from the nose or mouth. Breast milk is an excellent source of nutrition and it offers infection fighting antibodies - it maybe fortified with vitamins and minerals to meet the premies special needs.

A common condition is hyperbilirubinemia (newborn jaundice), affecting 80% of premature babies. Infants with hyperbilirubinemia have high levels of bilirubin causing them to develop a yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes. This is treated with special lights that help them to break down the extra blood cells that cause jaundice. Untreated it can cause brain damage.

In the NICU, all premature babies are monitored for apnea - another common health problem - where a baby stops breathing, the heart rate may decrease, and the skin may turn pale or blue. Apnea is usually caused by immaturity in the area of the brain that controls the reflex to breathe. Almost all babies born at 30 weeks or less will experience some apnea but the spells become less frequent with age. Treating apnea can be as simple as gently stimulating the infant to restart breathing, but for some drug therapy or special breathing assistance is needed.

One of the most common (and immediate) problems for a premature infant is difficulty breathing. Many things can cause breathing difficulties in premature infants, but the most common is called respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). This develops because the preemie lacks surfactant which helps to expand the lungs properly. Fortunately, RDS is treatable and most infants do very well.

Infection is always a threat to preemies because they're less able to fight germs that can cause serious illness. Practically any body part can become infected. Bacterial infections can be treated with antibiotics while other medications are prescribed to treat viruses or fungal infections. Frequent hand washing is used in the NICU to reduce the risk of infection.

Parent involvement is another important factor in caring for a premature infant. While it may seem overwhelming to see your baby surrounded by tubes and wires - and under the care of doctors and nurses - he or she is still your baby and nothing else can replace the loving touch of mom and dad.

Answer 2

I have an adopted daughter who was just 24 weeks gestation at birth. She survived and in fact thrives and is beautiful at 9 years old now. So that being 9 years ago, perhaps they can save even younger babies now days. She was very medically fragile the first 3 years of her life though and is severely hearing impaired as a result of her struggle. Likely caused by the drugs she was on to use the ventilator to breath for 6 weeks after her birth.

But, like I said, she is beautiful and thriving now! And since she was born nearly a decade ago and medicine has advanced so much, maybe they can save babies even younger!

Answer 3

From what I found the baby was alittle over 21 weeks of development when it was born in Miami. Website with more info: http://cellar.org/showthread.php?t=13397

Answer 4

The youngest surviving baby was 21 weeks, 5 days. As to the youngest to be born, that depends on your definition of "baby".