The world’s smallest surviving baby, a little girl who weighed no more than a pomegranate when she was born in December, has finally left the hospital.
After her mom rushed to Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women & Newborns last year, doctors told her they would have to perform an emergency cesarean section to save her life. Baby Saybie came out of the womb weighing 8.6 ounces. Her mother was less than six months into her pregnancy, at only 23 weeks and three days.
“They told my husband that he had about an hour with her, and that she was going to pass away,” Saybie’s mother says in a video released by Fox 5 San Diego. “But that hour turned into two hours, which turned into a day, which turned into a week.”
At the time, doctors struggled even to find equipment small enough for Saybie. According to the University of Iowa’s Tiniest Baby Registry, Saybie takes the crown as the smallest baby to survive birth. The last record-holder, a baby born in Germany in 2015, weighed about 0.25 ounces more. Saybie now weighs more than 5 pounds, and she came home from the San Diego hospital last month.
In the video, her mother gets emotional while holding Saybie in her arms.
“Look at all those signs they made,” she says. Little notes in the hospital shared encouragement or marked milestones for Saybie: “Tiny but mighty,” “No more breathing tube 02*08*19,” and “I’m three pounds!” surrounded by prints of baby feet.
“I’m so grateful for them,” Saybie’s mother says.
As states across the U.S. consider abortion legislation, it’s worth noting that the standard adopted in Roe v. Wade would permit abortion up to the point of viability. That’s generally considered to occur around 24-28 weeks, and many states permit abortion up to 25 weeks. In some states — such as Illinois, which just passed sweeping legislation — abortion is legal well past viability.
As a micro preemie, Saybie joined other babies born before 26 weeks gestation. Her chances of survival were slim, but she’s “tiny but mighty.” She’s outlived the odds, and as neonatal care improves, others will follow.
