A baby in the US who was born at exactly 21 weeks – 133 days ahead of his mother’s due date – has been recognised as the world’s most premature baby by Guinness World Records.
The announcement of the world record came shortly after the baby, Nash Keen, turned one year's old, having survived against what Guinness World Records described as “phenomenal odds”, reports the Guardian.
It notes that the world-record-logging organisation’s database of about 40,000 records has long inspired fascination from the public, with baby Nash’s path to that database beginning on 5 July 2024, the day he was born at the gestational age of exactly 21 weeks – 133 days ahead of his mother’s due date, based on a typical full-term pregnancy of 280 days – at the University of Iowa Health Care Stead Family Children’s Hospital in Iowa City.
Nash weighed only 10 ounces (283 grams) at birth, which is about the same as a bar of soap, the Guardian reports. He had to spend the next six months in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) before he was allowed to go home.
His mother, Mollie Keen, has described Nash as “very determined, curious … and he’s just all smiles all the time”. His birth was the second time in less than two years that Mollie had given birth prematurely. She and Nash's father, Randell Keen, lost their daughter, McKinley, who was born at the gestational age of nearly 18 weeks.
It was after that Mollie was diagnosed with an incompetent cervix, a condition in which the lower part of the uterus weakens and opens too soon during pregnancy, and which can lead to premature birth.
Because Mollie also has polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a disorder that can cause difficulties in getting pregnant, she didn’t know if her and Randell's dream of having a family would be possible, notes an article from the website of the hospital that treated Nash. But six months after losing McKinley, the couple discovered Mollie was pregnant again.
After she became pregnant with Nash, “we were so excited, but also very nervous,” Mollie said. “We didn’t get our hopes up.”
Mollie has spoken about how, following such an early birth, she and Randall “weren’t sure if he’d even survive those first critical hours. But we wanted to give him the best chance.”
Nash underwent “highly specialised care, constant surveillance and frequent monitoring” while facing a series of substantial “challenges early on”, according to Dr Amy Stanford, a neonatologist who helped care for Nash.
"He showed remarkable resilience,” Stanford said. “After those first few extremely delicate weeks, he began to make steady progress, which was truly extraordinary to witness.”
Nash’s story illustrates the growing number of extremely premature babies who are surviving thanks to life-saving treatment, the Guardian notes.
Nash emerged from his time in NICU with as good an outcome as could be hoped for by medical science, according to his doctors.
Now one year's old, Nash still requires oxygen to help him breathe, and he is fed exclusively through a feeding tube. His parents are preparing for him to try pureed foods.
Nash’s doctors are optimistic that a minor heart defect will resolve itself as he grows up. Though he is not quite yet crawling, he has started rolling over, the Guardian reports.
None of the developmental challenges have held Nash back from demonstrating his budding personality, says Randell.
A small gathering of close family friends joined Nash and his family to celebrate his first birthday, the Guardian notes. In addition to presents of new outfits and toys, Nash was given the certificate from Guinness World Records, having surpassed by a single day the organisation’s previous most premature baby record holder, who was born in 2020 in Alabama.
“I love waking up to him,” says Mollie , adding that Nash is "the best thing that could have happened to us".
Photo: Mollie Keen holding baby Nash (credit: uihc.org).
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