{"id":247603,"date":"2021-06-21T14:16:58","date_gmt":"2021-06-21T19:16:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=247603"},"modified":"2021-06-21T14:01:26","modified_gmt":"2021-06-21T19:01:26","slug":"premature-baby-celebrates-first-birthday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/premature-baby-celebrates-first-birthday\/","title":{"rendered":"World’s most premature baby, born at 21 weeks, celebrates first birthday"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The world’s most premature baby, according to Guinness World Records, has just celebrated<\/a> his first birthday after being born five months early. CNN featured Richard Scott William Hutchinson’s story, but neglected to mention the fact that he was born at 21 weeks and two days<\/em> and survived, even as the U.S. Supreme Court weighs<\/a> the question of viability<\/a> as it relates to abortion. Richard weighed only 11.9 ounces at birth, a fraction less than a can of soda.<\/p>\n

His mother, Beth, suffered medical complications that caused her to go into preterm labor, and she and husband Rick spent the first month of their son’s life wondering if he was going to survive.<\/p>\n

“When he was born, they gave him zero percent chance of survival,” Rick told a local ABC News affiliate<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Richard was placed on a ventilator and IV nutrition and made small improvements over time, but he was a challenge for the medical team at Children’s Minnesota in Minneapolis because he was the youngest patient they had ever cared for. Yet, Richard continued<\/a> to grow stronger, and after six months in the hospital, he was able to go home with his parents just in time for Christmas in December 2020.<\/p>\n

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