Premature baby 'Tom Thumb' born at 25 weeks weighing half a pound survives

http://www.telegraph.co.uk ^

[marthemaria]

German doctors have revealed photographs of the smallest premature baby boy to have survived against incredible odds after being born at 25 weeks weighing just over half a pound.

The baby, who doctors dubbed "Tom Thumb" was less than the length of a sheet of A-4 paper and weighed a fraction over 9.7 ounces (275 grams) when he was born by Caesarean section 15 weeks prematurely at the University of Medicine at Göttingen in western Germany in June 2009.

For 24 hours a day, the child was in an incubator and hooked up to feeding tubes, breathing tubes, a heart monitor, a catheter and a plethora of electronic devices to monitor every vital sign as he faced risks of cerebral haemorrhage

In December, the baby was finally pronounced "stable" after achieving a weight of 8.2lbs - considered an average birth weight in Germany.

Now, nine months after his birth, doctors have allowed the unnamed boy's parents to take him to the family home in Eighsfeld, central Germany, after ruling that he is strong enough to survive.

Officials from Göttingen hospital said that, having checked all available records of premature births worldwide, they were unable to find a viable birth of a boy at a lower weight. Three girls - including one born in the US at just 244 grams - had survived lower birth weights. The smallest boy previously recorded weighed 10.4 ounces.

[marthemaria]

Just wow.

[proudofthesouth]

I think God may have something very special planned for this precious child.

[aruanan]

Sounds like my friend from Vietnam. He was scarcely longer than his father’s hand. All he had was a shoe box in an oven. But he grew up to be the tallest of the three brothers and three sisters and is a Ph.D. in cardiac pharmacology and is almost finished with his specialty in orthodontics.

[visualops]

I wish they’d explained why they did a c-section at that stage. The mention of cerebral hemorrhage didn’t state if it was before or after but implied after he was born.

[happinesswithoutpeace]

Prayers 0_0

[mware]

Thwy don't have any photos of the baby now that he is home.

Way to go little one. God has plans for you.

[marthemaria]

I don't understand how people can still support abortion after reading stories like this.

[mware]

Not that long ago the Telegraph had a story on a woman whose new born baby was denied coverage because the baby was born one day, (let me repeat that ONE DAY) before the cut off date for coverage.

She held the baby in her hands until the little one died.

If Obama care goes through expect Peter Singer and his crew to push for rulings like that.

[Shimmer1]

My third son was born at 25 1/2 weeks (23 years ago, when babies like him just did not survive without severe damage) He was a whopping 1lb15oz though. No long term damage, no learning disabilities, no glasses. He just thrived.
He’s now a sailor in the USNavy. (beaming face)

[culpeper]

Because they are simply evil. They can’t see miracles.

[ZinGirl]

Wow! God is amazing. My 15-yo just said, “but that must have been really scary!”. How proud you must be. Please thank him for his service. (We are very pro-military...but kinda partial to the Navy....my brother was commissioned in 1986 and still in!)

[Shimmer1]

He was amazing from the start, and it was very scary! He weighed less than a 2 lb bag of sugar! But he was a fighter from the start. There was no known medical reason that my water broke, it just did. And then a day later he was born via C section. (cord prolapse) No brain bleeds, so health issues except from being born so very early.
He’s now a electronic tech in the Navy.
I do the Navy family ping list, if you want to be added.

[Disgusted in Texas]

What a beautiful story. God bless you and your son!

[srmorton]

In NC, the rule must be the same because my Division Chair at the Community College where I teach had a similar story. Her DIL went into premature labor at 23 weeks and the hospital (a major medical center in Eastern NC) said that they would not resuscitate a fetus born at less than 24 weeks gestation. She is a devout Catholic as well as a RN so she was appalled at that! Fortunately, the labor was stopped and mother was hospitalized on complete bed rest. She was also given steroids in order to help his lungs develop and was able to make it for about another week and a half. He was born at a little less than 26 weeks at 1lb 9oz with no breathing problems. His grandmother told me yesterday that he is up to 9 pounds! A miracle baby for whom God has some very big plans!

[kalee]

Dr Stephan Seeliger, an expert on premature babies, said: “I spoke to the parents about the birth beforehand - whether we should go for it or not. In the end, I said: ‘Good thing we did it!’”

Yes, good thing! God bless this baby and his parents.

[A.A. Cunningham]

Telegraph

[smokingfrog]

Amazing!

bttt