{"id":300172,"date":"2023-10-16T08:43:27","date_gmt":"2023-10-16T13:43:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=300172"},"modified":"2023-10-15T21:50:42","modified_gmt":"2023-10-16T02:50:42","slug":"australian-preemie-born-23-weeks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/australian-preemie-born-23-weeks\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian preemie born at 23 weeks now thriving at home with his family"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Courtney and Rhys Matulis of Mornington Peninsula, Australia, were overjoyed<\/a> to learn they were pregnant with their son, Maverick, after having lost a previous pregnancy at 18 weeks. But their joy turned to worry when Courtney prematurely went into labor at 23 weeks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“Maverick is our second child. We lost our little girl Savannah Jane at 18 weeks and six days as a result of an incompetent cervix, which is part of the reason that he was born so early as well,\u201d Courtney explained.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Doctors put a stitch in Courtney\u2019s cervix (cerclage<\/a>) in an attempt to prevent her premature labor again, but unfortunately, it didn’t hold for long.<\/span><\/p>\n

“The stitch failed and I was in labour. I was dilated three centimetres. The membrane for his amniotic sac had started to come through, which is what caused the bleed,\u201d she explained.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Baby Maverick arrived at 23 weeks five days weighing just 719 grams \u2013 as much as a loaf of bread. He had a number of medical complications due to his early birth. In fact, when he was just 16 days old, his kidneys started shutting down and doctors feared he wouldn’t make it. They presented Courtney and Rhys with the only thing they thought would give him a chance at life.<\/span><\/p>\n