Celebration as baby born at 22 weeks goes home

A baby born at just 22 weeks old has been discharged after 144 days in a neonatal intensive care unit in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Baby Malakai was born weighing less than 1lb, but was sent home with his parents healthy and at a weight of 7lb 7oz to applause from the hospital staff.

The tiny boy was one of the youngest and smallest babies to survive at Ascension Columbia St Mary’s Hospital, having been only the size of his father’s hand when born.

Celebration

Malakai’s Father described the doctors and nurses on the neonatal intensive care unit as “not human, [t]hey’re like superheroes”.

Mother Vatsanah said: “I never thought I would be here, being able to hold him, and like, bring him home”.

Catherine Robinson, spokesperson for Right To Life UK, said: “These amazing stories of premature babies like Malakai surviving from just 22 weeks are so important for demonstrating the humanity and resilience of life in and out of the womb”.

Outdated laws

The current abortion limit in the UK is 24 weeks for most reasons, and was set at that timescale as it was believed a baby was only viable outside the womb after that point.

Right To Life noted that stories like Malakai’s highlight how two babies at 22 weeks in the same hospital could meet different fates.

Under our law, “one could have his or her life deliberately ended by abortion, and the other could be born prematurely and have a dedicated medical team provide the best care they can to try to save his or her life”.