Weighing less than a small apple and a size smaller than a kid’s juice box, Baby Saybe came into the world officially as the world’s smallest baby.
Tipping the scales at just a measly 8.6 ounces, that’s barely half a pound, doctors gave Saybie little chance for survival. They thought that she would only last an hour. Then one hour turned to two hours and two turned into a day, then a week and so on. Now, to nearly everyone’s surprise, the strong little survivor is a little over 5 months old, is finally going home healthy.
Her mother, who has decided to remain anonymous, shared her voice in a video released by the hospital, recalling the day she gave birth to Saybie at 23 weeks and 3 days gestation. A typical pregnancy lasts about 40 weeks.
“I was the scariest day of my life,” she says, explaining that when she learned she had preeclampsia and needed to deliver she was terrified. “I kept telling them: ‘She’s not going to survive. She’s—I’m only 23 weeks,” she recalls.
While still in the womb, concerned doctors at Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women & Newborn noticed Saybie wasn’t gaining weight as her mother experienced severe pregnancy complications, the hospital revealed in a Wednesday press release.
Doctors felt Saybie’s mother’s life was at risk and were forced to perform the emergency c-section after the mother has been suffering from severe preeclampsia.
Preeclampsia is a condition that occurs only during pregnancy. Some symptoms of preeclampsia may include high blood pressure and protein in the urine, occurring after week 20 of pregnancy. Preeclampsia is often precluded by gestational hypertension. While high blood pressure during pregnancy does not necessarily indicate preeclampsia, it may be a sign of another problem. Preeclampsia affects at least 5-8% of pregnancies.
In the U.S., preeclampsia is one of the four most common reasons for maternal death. On an average, there is approximately 1 maternal death for every 100,000 births, but for African American women, this number triples. African American women are three times more likely to die from preeclampsia and other childbirth-related issues and but many don’t know why.
Currently, there is no sure way to prevent preeclampsia. Some contributing factors to high blood pressure can be controlled and some can’t. Here are some things that may help:
The hospital where Saybie was born, Sharp Mary Birch, which has the largest Level III NICU in San Diego County, is recognized among the best hospitals in the world in caring for micro preemies.
This “team was incredibly proud to care for Saybie, and happy to wish her well when she graduated from the NICU and went home…,” the hospital said in a press release.
Babies who are born before 28 weeks of gestation are known as micro preemies. These infants weigh extremely light and are very fragile, often facing long stays in the NICU section of the hospital.
Cognitive problems can occur in 40 percent of micro preemies, while 10 percent go on to have moderate to severe cerebral palsy. Other long-term health problems may include respiratory problems, digestive issues, and vision or hearing loss.
But thank God Saybie is doing well. She truly is a miracle baby!
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