"Baby Weighing 288g, Smallest Born in Korea, Safely Discharged"

The 32nd Smallest in the World... Seoul Asan Hospital Neonatal Team Completes 153 Days of Intensive Care

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] A miraculous event occurred where a baby born as the first extremely premature infant in Korea weighing 288g in the 200g range grew up without major complications and was discharged.

The Neonatal Team at Seoul Asan Medical Center Children's Hospital (Professors Kim Ki-soo, Kim Ae-ran, Lee Byung-seop, Jung Ui-seok) announced on the 6th that Jo Geon-woo (5 months old, male), born at 24 weeks and 6 days weighing 288g and measuring 23.5cm, an extremely low birth weight premature infant, completed 153 days of intensive neonatal care and was discharged in good health on the 3rd.

Cases of extremely premature infants weighing under 400g surviving are rare worldwide. Geon-woo, born in the 200g range, was recorded as the smallest premature infant survival case reported in Korea.

The extremely premature infant registry site operated by the University of Iowa in the United States (for premature infants born under 400g who survived) currently has 286 registered infants, and among them, Geon-woo is expected to be listed as the 32nd smallest infant worldwide.

Geon-woo’s mother was diagnosed at the 17th week of pregnancy with 'intrauterine growth restriction,' indicating the fetus was not growing well in the womb and had a poor prognosis. Unable to give up on Geon-woo, she visited the Obstetrics Department at Seoul Asan Medical Center from Ham-an, Gyeongnam at the end of March. Professor Jung Jin-hoon in Obstetrics decided to hospitalize her, aiming to extend the gestational age as much as possible while the fetus could endure, despite the fetus being about 5 weeks smaller than the expected size for the gestational age.

After admission to the high-risk maternal intensive monitoring unit on April 1, Geon-woo’s mother received steroids to mature the fetal lungs and magnesium sulfate to aid brain development. However, during continuous 24-hour close monitoring of the fetal condition, a persistent decrease in fetal heart rate occurred. To prevent the worst-case scenario endangering the fetus, an emergency cesarean section was performed on the 4th to deliver Geon-woo.

Born at 24 weeks and 6 days, about 15 weeks earlier than the due date, Geon-woo’s alveoli were not fully developed, making spontaneous breathing impossible. Immediately after birth, surfactant was administered into the bronchus, and Geon-woo’s heart began beating. He was then transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit for intensive treatment by the neonatal team.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Geon-woo developed enteritis, common among premature infants, and for about a week was on fasting with nutrients carefully supplied through a venous catheter, but he safely overcame this. On the day he turned one month old, he endured a critical moment when his heart suddenly stopped, receiving emergency resuscitation. Accompanying pulmonary hypertension and retinopathy of prematurity were controlled with medication, and the hernia surgery performed before discharge was completed without issues.

By around 80 days after birth, Geon-woo was weaned off the ventilator and was able to breathe spontaneously with only a small amount of oxygen, and his weight surpassed 1kg from 288g. By mid-four months, he left the incubator, and by five months, his weight exceeded 2kg.

Geon-woo’s mother, Lee Seo-eun (38 years old), said, "Geon-woo came to us as a blessing, and I wanted to protect him through any crisis. Thanks to the obstetrics and neonatal teams at Seoul Asan Medical Center, I am sincerely grateful to be able to hold a healthy Geon-woo in my arms. Although he was born the smallest, I will raise him to be the healthiest and a child with a big heart."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.