Premature Baby Born 21 Weeks Youngest Ever

Four-year-old Lyla Stensrud is a medical miracle.

The Texas preschooler is believed to be the youngest documented premature baby to ever survive, and today she is thriving at home with her family, NBC reports.

Four years ago in July 2014, doctors thought it was nearly impossible for her to survive. Lyla was born after 21 weeks and four days in the womb, weighing just 14.4 ounces, according to her mother’s blog.

Her mother, Courtney Stensrud, who recently opened up about their journey, said she hopes their story will give hope to other families with preemies.

In 2017, the journal Pediatrics highlighted the Lyla’s story but did not provide her name. The report hailed her as the youngest premature baby to survive.

Stensrud said her pregnancy with Lyla appeared normal until her 20 week ultrasound scan. She told NBC that she immediately knew something was wrong by the look on her OB-GYN’s face. Her doctor told her that her placenta was thinning and beginning to detach. She said she also developed an infection of the amniotic fluid called chorioamnionitis.

Several days later, Lyla was born.

Immediately afterward, Stensrud said she and her husband had to decide whether they wanted doctors to try to save their daughter. Some hospitals do not give families that option, but their San Antonio hospital did.

Here’s more from the report:

She had a few moments to research whether a baby born that early could live and knew it wasn’t possible.

“But when I was holding a live baby in my arms, I just absolutely thought she could survive. I felt it in my heart,” Stensrud said.

When [neonatologist Dr. Kaashif] Ahmad found out the pregnancy was estimated to be just 21 weeks and four days along, he quickly counselled her about the baby’s dire prospects. Infants delivered before 22 weeks’ gestation are too premature to survive, he said.

Their lungs are so underdeveloped that it’s near impossible to deliver oxygen into their bodies.

Many micro-preemies also have long-term disabilities such as cerebral palsy, neurological problems and trouble with vision. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends against resuscitating infants as premature as Lyla, arguing it is “not in the best interests of the child.”

FULL STORY HERE