The world's most premature baby who was given 0% chance of survival has just celebrated his first birthday

• Richard Scott William Hutchinson, the world's most premature baby, celebrated his first birthday.
• Babies are typically born after gestating for 40 weeks, but Hutchinson was born after 21 weeks.
• Hutchinson's doctor said his parents' support was key to his survival.

At age one, Richard Scott William Hutchinson has already made it in The Guinness Book of Records as the most premature baby to survive.

Hutchinson was supposed to be born in October 2020, but he arrived on June 5, 2020 - 131 days early.

Babies are typically born at the 40-week mark in pregnancy, but Hutchinson had only been gestating for 21 weeks. He weighed in at 11.9 ounces at birth.

Because he was born early, Hutchinson was sent to the neonatal intensive care unit at Children's Minnesota hospital. It was there that Hutchinson's parents got a grim prediction on his chances of survival.

"When Rick and Beth received prenatal counseling on what to expect with a baby born so early, they were given a 0% chance of survival by our neonatology team," Dr. Stacy Kern, a neonatologist at Children's Minnesota hospital, told the Guinness Book of World Records.

Despite the premature baby's 0% survival odds, he lived

Kern said Hutchinson's first two weeks of life were crucial to his survival. "I knew the first few weeks of Richard's life would be very difficult, but I felt that if he could make it through that, he would be a survivor," Kern said.

Although the hospital had restrictions because of COVID-19, like no overnight visitors, Hutchinson's parents drove from St Croix County, Wisconsin, to Minneapolis, Minnesota, every day. Rick Hutchinson, Hutchinson's father, thinks their support kept their baby alive. "I think that helped him get through this because he knew he could count on us," Rick Hutchinson said.

Beth Hutchinson, the baby's mother, now wants parents of premature babies to advocate for their kids. "Advocate for your child as much as you can," Beth Hutchinson said. "Be nosy, because it is your child, and you deserve to know what is going on."