Premature baby weighing just 212g, now healthy and happy two-year old

2022-09-16 22:06:52 By : Ms. Maggie Wang

A baby born four months early in Singapore, weighing only 212g at birth, is now a healthy two-year old.

Kwek Yu Xuan was born in June 2020, four months before her due date, weighing only a tenth of what a normal newborn should weigh.

She was born so prematurely that she had to stay in the National University Hospital (NUH) in Singapore for over a year before being discharged in June 2021, weighing 6.3kg. Even at that point she had chronic lung disease – a condition common in babies born extremely prematurely – and had to use a ventilator at home for oxygen assistance.

“While Yu Xuan’s chances of survival were low, the neonatal team cared for her around the clock, including with new innovative ways”.

Today though, Yu Xuan no longer needs a ventilator. She does need a feeding tube through her nose, but apart from that, her mother reports that she is a healthy and happy child. Yu Xuan is now 10.2kg, very close to the normal weight for a child her age.

Dr Yvonne Ng, a senior consultant at the department of neonatology at NUH’s Khoo Teck Puat – National University Children’s Medical Institute, said her team follows up with the baby’s growth and development as well as with the parents on how to cope with caring for the preterm baby at home.

Health Minister Ong Ye Kung praised the efforts of Yu Xuan’s medical team: “While Yu Xuan’s chances of survival were low, the neonatal team cared for her around the clock, including with new innovative ways. They improvised feeding tubes, refashioned diapers for her small frame and took special care of her fragile skin to minimise infections”, he said.

Survival rates for extremely premature babies are improving all the time

Abortion is available up to 24 weeks in the UK. However, the outcomes for premature babies with medical complications like Yu Xuan are improving all the time.

Earlier this year, John Wyatt, Professor of Ethics and Perinatology at University College London and also Emeritus Professor of Neonatal Paediatrics, Ethics & Perinatology at University College London, presented evidence to parliamentarians from the UK and across the world showing “that there has been a steady improvement in the chances of survival of babies born at 22 and 23 weeks gestation since the Abortion Act was last amended [in 1990]”.

Right To Life UK spokesperson Catherine Robinson said: “The prospects for premature babies are improving all the time. Even babies like Yu Xuan with medical complications are able to survive and thrive thanks to advances in medical technology and the work of neonatal care units like the one in which Yu Xuan was treated. In light of these advances that show the humanity of unborn and prematurely born babies all the more clearly, there is an urgent need to revisit our abortion laws”.

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Action alerts on the latest pro-life developments along with tools to help you change hearts and minds

Opportunities to help protect and defend more lives

Right To Life UK will use the information you provide on this form to keep in touch with you and to provide updates. You can change your mind at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in the footer of any email you receive from us, or by contacting us at info@righttolife.org.uk . We will treat your information with respect. For more information about our privacy practices please see our Privacy Policy .

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Time is running out to help stop extreme proposals from becoming law

Thanks to the support from people like you, last year, a major attempt to hijack the UK Government’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill - to introduce abortion on demand, for any reason, up to birth - failed, in a major pro-life victory.  

Unfortunately, this is not the end for our opposition.

The abortion lobby has already been successful at using the Coronavirus crisis to introduce home ‘DIY’ abortions. Our opposition is now eager to see more widespread changes to legislation and we are expecting major threats in the new Parliamentary year, which begins in May, across three separate fronts:

Fighting both the abortion and assisted suicide lobbies over the last couple of months has already taken a significant amount of Right To Life UK's limited resources. To be successful in this next fight, we must raise at least £200,000 by midnight on Sunday 8 May 2022.

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