World's most premature baby born in Germany

BERLIN: A German woman gave birth to a one-pound baby after only 21 weeks and five days of pregnancy, making it the world's most premature baby to survive, the mass circulation Bild newspaper reported Saturday. When Frieda was born on November 7 she measured 11 inches (28 centimetres) and weighed only one pound (460 grammes). Five and a half months later, she is finally fit to leave the clinic in Fulda, western Germany, in the next few days, now weighing 7.7 pounds (3.5 kilos) for 50 centimetres (nearly 20 inches), the paper said. Her twin brother Kilian died a few days after being born. Professor Reinald Repp, director of the paediatric clinic, could not be reached on Saturday, but a doctor on duty said that "there is no foreseeable risk of after-effects for the moment" and that the little girl "should develop normally like any other child." Repp told Bild that her survival was "a miracle" because generally babies born before 22 weeks have no chance because their lungs, heart and brain are not sufficiently developed. "Frieda was kept in a completely sterile environment, with her breathing assisted and fed through her navel," he told the paper. Any baby born before eight months of pregnancy is considered premature. Very premature babies (less than 32 weeks) are considered at high risk of suffering developmental problems. (AFP)