World's smallest baby boy now ready for the outside world
World's smallest baby boy, Ryusuke Sekino, is expected to leave the hospital and go home today after he gained weight, from 258gms (same as of an apple) at birth to more than 3kgs. Ryusuke was born in Nagano Prefecture, Japan, on October 1, 2018, after an emergency C-section and was under treatment since then at the Nagano Children's Hospital in Azumino.
Ryusuke was surgically delivered after just 24 weeks of pregnancy
Ryusuke's mother, Toshiko Sekino, went into surgery only after 24 weeks and 5 days of conceiving him as she was suffering from hypertension. At the time of his birth, he was just 22 cm in length and was fed via tubes at the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit. He was given a few drops of his mother's milk with the help of cotton buds.
Mother: Was afraid he would break if I touched him
While talking to reporters yesterday, Toshiko said, "When he was born, he was so small, and it seemed as if he would break if I touched him. I was so worried." "Now he drinks milk. We can give him a bath. I'm happy I can see him growing day by day, thanks to the special care he received here (the hospital)," she added.
His blood vessels were too thin for drips, says doctor
The doctors at the hospital are also glad that his treatment had been successful. According to a news agency, one of the doctors, Takehiko Hiroma, said, "There have been difficulties in the treatment because, immediately after his birth, his blood vessels were too thin to administer intravenous drips."
Survival-rate of girls higher than of boys in such cases
According to the University of Iowa's data, the smallest surviving baby girl (252gms) was born in Germany in 2015. Moreover, the data shows only six out of 25 babies born weighing less than 300gms are boys, proving survival-rate of girls is higher than of boys.
