DENVER, Colo. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — About one in 10 babies in the US is born preterm, and for the tiniest of them, just a few days can make the difference between life and death. The world’s most premature surviving baby was born at just 21 weeks, one day. Doctors say advances in neonatal care are giving more of these fragile newborns a fighting chance. Tonight, we want to introduce you to Sebastian. He was born at 22 weeks, one day, barely bigger than a grapefruit.
He’s the baby everyone wants to hold.
Sebastian is back inside the NICU, getting the VIP treatment from the people who know just how close his story came to ending before it ever really began. Born at just 22 weeks and one day, Sebastian weighed a little over a pound. He was born at the very edge of survival.
Emma Harding, MD, MS, Neonatologist at HCA HealthONE Rocky Mountain Children’s explains, “Babies who are born at 22 and 23 weeks are really at the threshold of potential survival.”
His mom, Vivian Hernandez, had been trying for years to have another baby. Then at 18 weeks her water broke. She says, “The doctor at the hospital told me, like, ‘Hey, I am gonna be completely honest with you. I see this baby coming within the next five days. This baby is going to come, and we’re gonna consider it a miscarriage.’”
At 22 weeks, labor hit fast, but Sebastian was in trouble.
“Sebastian’s heart rate was low for a period of time, and his oxygen levels were also very low for a period of time and, you know, we really tried one last intervention, giving him a tiny fluid bolus to see if he would respond to that … and he did,” recalls Doctor Harding.
For 113 days, the NICU was home. Sebastian needed help breathing, help eating, and constant care.
Doctor Harding told Ivanhoe, “Our primary concern is: will those lungs function and will those lungs function with the respiratory support that we’re able to offer them?”
And that’s where care is changing. Today, doctors can give steroids before birth to help a baby’s lungs develop and after birth, use medicines and breathing support to help keep those tiny lungs open. They also use tiny, specialized feeding tubes and IV nutrition to help these babies grow until their bodies are ready to do it on their own.
“We have something called the Golden Hour. So, our goal is to get the baby tucked in with the umbilical lines that they need, all the support that they have in within the first hour of life,” explains Doctor Harding.
Sebastian survived infections, respiratory crises and the ups and downs of extreme prematurity. And after 113 days in the NICU … Sebastian joined his big sister at home.
Vivian says, “Miracles do happen because I’m living proof that my baby’s … I hold my miracle every single day. Every single day.”
Doctors say babies born this early still need close follow-up for lung health, development, feeding, vision and hearing. As for Sebastian, he is now home; he’s 14 pounds and growing, and hitting milestones based on his adjusted age. Sebastian is expected to grow into a normal, healthy boy.
Contributors to this news report include: Marsha Lewis, Producer; Matt Goldschmidt, Videographer; & Roque Correa, Editor.
Sources:
https://www.cdc.gov/maternal-infant-health/preterm-birth/index.html
https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/67461-most-premature-baby
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9529835/
* For More Information, Contact:
Paula Cooper, Director, Communications & Community Engagement
HCA HealthONE Rocky Mountain Children’s
Paula.cooper@hcahealthcare.com
720-618-2123
