A baby who was smaller than the palm of a hand when she was born five months prematurely has been discharged from hospital after beating the odds to survive.
Tiny Emanuelly was born at Vila Santa Catarina municipal hospital in Sao Paulo weighing 335 grammes (12 oz) and measuring 25 centimetres (10 inches).
She was the smallest baby ever registered at a public hospital in Brazil.
Mum Camila Soares had gone to the hospital six months pregnant with high blood pressure.
While attempting to control her high blood pressure, medics found that the baby’s placental circulation was no longer receiving nutrients properly.
They performed an emergency delivery at 26 weeks and two days of pregnancy.
Camila recalled: “When my daughter was born, her chance of survival was two per cent. In the first seven days, we couldn’t touch her.”
The first challenge was to intubate the newborn with a very small tube, which had been sourced from a private hospital, to help her breathe.
Then, the medics needed to ventilate her with precise settings to avoid harming her.
Finally, as her digestive system was not fully formed, nutrition was provided through a vein.
After a month, relieved Camila was finally able to hold her daughter in her arms.
She remembered: “I could feel her little heart beating. I lost my first child. Then, I got pregnant again, and lost the baby again. Until Manu came along.
“I was able to deal with all of this because of her strength to survive.”
In total, Emanuelly spent five months in hospital under a team of healthcare professionals.
She has now been released after her weight hit 2.34 kilogrammes (5 lb 3 oz) and she grew to 43 centimetres (17 inches) – both conditions for her discharge.
The infant is now being monitored by a neurologist and an ophthalmologist, and she is said to be doing well.
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Story By: William McGee, Sub-Editor: Michael Leidig, Agency: Central European News
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