A baby born in Birmingham, Alabama, at 21 weeks and one day has been certified by Guinness World Records as the world’s most premature baby.
Curtis Zy-Keith Means was born at 21 weeks at the University of Alabama at Birmingham hospital when his mother, Michelle “Chelly” Butler, underwent emergency surgery to deliver, according to Guinness.
When Butler gave birth to her son on July 5, 2020, Curtis weighed just 14.8 oz or 420 grams. Curtis‘ due date was originally set to Nov. 11 of that year, making him nearly 19 weeks early.
Now, the 16-month-old is healthy and happy. After his birth, Curtis underwent treatment, responded “extraordinarily well,” per Guinness, and made an “exceptional” recovery.
“The medical staff told me that they don’t normally keep babies at that age,” Butler told Guinness World Records.
“Survival at this gestational age has never happened before, so before Curtis was born, his chances of survival would have been far less than one percent,” said Dr. Colm Travers, a professor in the neonatology division of the University of Alabama, Birmingham.
Any baby born before 37 weeks of pregnancy is considered to be premature. Premature babies do not face great odds — babies born before twenty-four weeks of pregnancy face about a fifty percent chance of survival. But babies born before twenty-two weeks, as was the case with Curtis, rarely survive for very long at all.
Curtis was given breathing support and medication for his heart and lungs to keep him alive. He was discharged after spending 275 days (about nine months) in the hospital. Unfortunately, his twin sister, C’Asya, did not respond to treatment as well as Curtis did. She died a day after birth.
Dr. Brian Sims, the neonatologist on duty who oversaw the twins’ delivery, said: “The numbers say that babies at this age will not survive.”
Curtis still needs supplemental oxygen and a feeding tube, but doctors say he is doing well.
“I’ve been doing this almost 20 years… but I’ve never seen a baby this young be as strong as he was… There was something special about Curtis,” Dr. Sims said.
Watch the video below for more details:
Sources: AWM, Guinness World Records
