Curtis Means, who weighed only 14.8 ounces (420 grams) at birth, set the new record, according to Guinness World Records and UAB Hospital on Wednesday. Curtis was born 132 days premature with a twin who did not survive. He is now 16 months old and healthy.
The world’s most premature baby to survive is a US boy who weighed less than a pound at birth after his mother went into labor at only 21 weeks and one day of gestation. Curtis Means was born last year in Birmingham, Alabama, weighing only 420g (14.8 ounces).
His mother, Michelle Butler, went into labor and was rushed to the hospital. Curtis and C’Asya, her twins, were born. Curtis survives, but the rest of the survivors díєd a day later. After three months on a ventilator, he was discharged in April after spending 275 days in the hospital. He needed therapists’ äṩṩistance to start using his mouth and eating. Ang therapists had to teach him how to breathe and eat with his mouth. Curtis, who has three older brothers and sisters, still requires supplemental oxygen and a feeding tube, but doctors say he is in good health.
Curtis shaved 24 hours off the previous record, held by Wisconsin baby Richard Hutchinson, who was born at 21 weeks and two days just a month before.
Dr. Brian Sims, the attending physician, stated that statistics show that children born at such a young age have almost no chance of survival, but Curtis defied the odds. “In situations of such extremely preterm births, we typically advise compäṩṩionate care.” “Sims said in a statement issued by the hospital’s operator, the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “This allows the parents to hold their babies and enjoy the limited time they have together.”
At 40 weeks, a fetus is considered full term, but Butler went into labor after carrying twins for just over half that time. She was transferred to UAB Hospital, which has a regional neonatal intensive care unit, where Curtis and C’Asya were born. C’Asya díєd the next day, but Curtis was able to wean himself off the ventilator after three months.
He was discharged from the hospital in April after months of round-the-clock care.
“We don’t know what the future holds for Curtis because no one else is like him.” “Sims stated. “On the day he was born, he began writing his own story. Many people will read and study that story, and hopefully, it will help improve the care of premature infants all over the world.”
