'World's smallest baby boy' set to go home in Japan

Japan Today -- Apr 20

The world's smallest baby boy, who was born in October in Japan weighing as much as an apple, is now ready for the outside world, his doctor said Friday.

Ryusuke Sekiya was delivered via emergency Caesarean section, after 24 weeks and five days of pregnancy as his mother Toshiko experienced hypertension.

At 258 grams (9.1 ounces) he was even lighter than the previous record holder, another Japanese boy who weighed just 268 grams when he was born last year. That baby was discharged from a Tokyo hospital in February.

When Ryusuke was born on October 1, 2018, he measured 22 centimeters tall, and medical staff kept him in a neonatal intensive care unit.

They used tubes to feed him, sometimes taking cotton swabs to apply his mother's milk to his mouth.

Nearly seven months later, the boy has grown 13 times in weight, now weighing over three kilograms. He will be released from Nagano Children's Hospital in central Japan over the weekend.

Apr 20 (ANNnewsCH) - 長野県立こども病院で生まれた、世界で一番小さな赤ちゃんが20日、退院する。関野竜佑ちゃんは去年10月1日、身長22センチ、体重258グラムで生まれた。竜佑ちゃんは母乳のほかに、点滴で栄養を摂取し、18日の時点で身長43.5センチ、体重は3374グラムにまで成長した。