- A baby born at 21 weeks is the world's most premature baby to survive, $4 said.
- Curtis Zy-Keith Means was born in Alabama in July 2020, weighing 14.8 ounces (420 grams).
A baby born in Birmingham, Alabama, at 21 weeks and one day has been certified by $4 as the world's most premature baby.
Curtis Zy-Keith Means was born in July 2020. In a Wednesday statement, Guinness World Records said Means had broken a world record and was "certified as the world's most premature baby to survive."
He weighed 14.8 ounces (420 grams) at birth, which is the same as a soccer ball, $4.
That's seven times less than the weight of an average newborn who was brought to full term, Guinness World Records said.
His mother, Michelle, told Guinness World Records: "The medical staff told me that they don't normally keep babies at that age. It was very stressful."
He was kept on a ventilator for three months, and was able to go home after spending 275 days - just over nine months - in the hospital, Guinness World Records said.
He is now 16 months old and "thriving," Guinness World Records said, adding that he still needs to use supplemental oxygen and a feeding tube.
Means was born alongside a twin, C'Asya, who died a day after they were born.
They were born at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Colm Travers, assistant professor at the university's neonatology division, told Guinness World Records: "Survival at this gestational age has never happened before, so before Curtis was born his chances of survival would have been far less than 1%."
Dr. Brian Sims, the neonatologist who oversaw the birth, told Guinness World Records: "I've been doing this almost 20 years ... but I've never seen a baby this young be as strong as he was."
The record was previously held by a baby born at 21 weeks and two days - one day longer than Means.