Meet the world's most premature baby, Curtis Zy-Keith, who was born at 21 weeks

The mother delivered premature twins. C’Asya, the baby girl, was underdeveloped and did not respond to the treatment in the way her record holder brother did. Tragically, she passed away just a day after birth.

Image credit: Guinness World Records

New Delhi: Born in July 2020, Curtis Zy-Keith from Alabama, USA, became the world’s most premature baby to survive breaking the record of the previous baby who was born just one month before him, as per the Guinness World Records.

According to Guinness World Records, Michelle Butler, the mother, was initially diagnosed to be pregnant with twins and pregnancy was progressing well until on 4 July 2020 when she was rushed into hospital for emergency surgery. 

Michelle was quickly transferred from her local hospital to the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) to provide the best treatment.

(Image courtesy: Guinness World Records)

On 5 July, around 1 pm Michelle delivered 2 babies one boy and a girl. The baby boy Curtis who now holds the record of the world’s most premature baby to survive had a sister who was born along with him but could not survive the complication of premature birth.

C’Asya, the baby girl, was underdeveloped and did not respond to the treatment in the way her brother did. Tragically, she passed away just a day after birth.

Delivered at 21 weeks 1 day, Curtis’ original due date was 11 November. But due to the complications, he was delivered almost 19 weeks before his due date. Curtis weighed only 420 g at the time of birth.

Talking to the Guinness World Records Michelle said, "The medical staff told me that they don’t normally keep babies at that age.” "It was very stressful."

(Image courtesy: Guinness World Records)

Since the chances of survival of premature babies are very less and one of the twins has already succumbed to the complications of premature birth, it came to everyone’s surprise when Curtis responded extraordinarily well to treatment and, as the days and weeks went on, he grew stronger and stronger.

However, there were many challenges along the way and he required around-the-clock care for many months. The slim chances of a long-term future make Curtis’ recovery all the more exceptional.

After 275 days (about nine months) of being looked after by a huge team at the RNICU and the wider Women and Infants Center, it was determined that Curtis was fit enough to go home on 6 April 2021.

Curtis’ was discharged from the hospital with a long course of medication and special equipment such as bottled oxygen and a feeding tube, but it was nevertheless a major milestone on his extraordinary journey.

(The former most premature baby to survive, Richard Hutchinson, Image courtesy: Guinness World Records)

To everyone’s amusement, Curtis was delivered exactly one month after the previous record holder, Richard Hutchinson from Wisconsin, who was born at a gestational age of 21 weeks 2 days, or 131 days premature on 5 June 2020.