TOKYO: The world’s smallest baby boy, who was born in October in Japan weighing as much as an apple, is now ready for the outside world, his doctor said Friday.
Ryusuke Sekiya was delivered via emergency Caesarean section, after 24 weeks and five days of pregnancy as his mother Toshiko experienced hypertension.
At 258 grams (9.1 ounces) he was even lighter than the previous record holder, another Japanese boy who weighed just 268 grams when he was born last year. That baby was discharged from a Tokyo hospital in February.
When Ryusuke was born on October 1, 2018, he measured 22 centimeters (8.66 inches) tall, and medical staff kept him in a neonatal intensive care unit.
They used tubes to feed him, sometimes taking cotton swabs to apply his mother’s milk to his mouth.
Nearly seven months later, the boy has grown 13 times in weight, now weighing over three kilogrammes. He will be released from Nagano Children’s Hospital in central Japan over the weekend.
“When he was born, he was so small, and it seemed as if he would break with a touch. I was so worried,” his mother Toshiko told reporters.
“Now he drinks milk. We can give him a bath. I am happy that I can see him growing,” she said.
The smallest surviving girl was born in Germany in 2015 weighing 252 grams, according to a registry put together by the University of Iowa of the world’s tiniest surviving babies.
The survival rate for tiny babies is substantially lower for boys than for girls.
World’s smallest baby boy set to go home in Japan
World’s smallest baby boy set to go home in Japan
- The smallest surviving girl was born in Germany in 2015 weighing 252 grams, according to a registry put together by the University of Iowa of the world’s tiniest surviving babies
Policewoman honored for soothing crying baby when her mother fell unconscious at Beirut airport
- ISF honors first adjutant for comforting and feeding baby-milk to scared infant whose mother was rushed to hospital
- Social media users praise policewoman for her ‘humane and empathetic’ act after photos went viral
BEIRUT: A Lebanese policewoman who comforted an infant and fed her milk while her mother was hospitalized after falling unconscious at Beirut airport was honored for what social media users dubbed a ‘humane and empathetic’ act.
First Adjutant Nadia Nasser was on duty when the unidentified baby’s mother suffered a sudden illness and fell unconscious at a checkpoint inside Beirut International Airport earlier this month.
Photos of Nasser holding the months-old baby in her arms, preparing a milk bottle and feeding her went viral across social media, where users described the policewomen’s act as ‘motherly, compassionate and humane’ behavior.
Brig. Gen. Moussa Karnib of Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces honored Nasser on Friday for caring for the infant for almost two hours at the airport after her mother was rushed to a hospital.
A media statement said the first adjutant was honored upon the directives of ISF’s Director General Maj. Gen. Raed Abdullah, after she took personal initiative on Feb. 2 to comfort the infant.
Commenting on Nasser’s photos that went viral, a user called Sami said she should be promoted for her ‘selfless and empathetic’ act.
Another user, Joe, commented: “She should be rewarded.
“This is how loyalty and love for one’s job and country are built,” wrote a user called Youssef.
Media reports said that when the incident happened, the baby’s fear and cries prompted Nasser to take the initiative to comfort and remain beside her until her mother’s condition stabilized.
ISF’s statement did not clarify whether Nasser and the baby accompanied the mother in the ambulance or how they were reunited later.
