Baby girl born at 23 weeks sets record as smallest ever in Wales

A baby born at 23 weeks gestation and weighing just 11 ounces has spent her entire life in the hospital – but she is growing and thriving, despite her status as the smallest baby ever born in Wales.

Robyn Chambers was born after her mother, Chantelle Chambers, went into premature labor, according to WalesOnline. At 22 weeks, Chantelle experienced preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM), and she and her husband, Daniel, were hoping to keep baby Robyn in her mother’s womb for long enough for survival. Though babies have survived being born at 22 weeks, the couple was told there was no chance of survival if Robyn was born that early.

“The pregnancy was plain sailing up until the 20 week anomaly scan when the problem was detected. We were told that my cervix was slightly opening and there was a risk of pre-term labour. My waters could break and I could go into spontaneous labour at any time,” Chantelle said. “I was admitted into hospital that day and put onto bed rest. I stayed in the hospital for three weeks and two days before Robyn was born. She was given a small chance of survival. Robyn was born [breech], meaning her body was delivered before her head. A team of doctors got to work on her straight away. She was intubated and placed in a sandwich bag to keep her vital organs warm. She was so tiny and could fit in the palm of our hand.”

Robyn had to be placed on a ventilator, and was given fluids and medications. But because she was so small, it was a difficult case for NICU staff. “They said her veins were as small as a piece of string, so it was incredibly hard for the doctors and nurses to work on her,” Daniel said, with Chantelle adding, “Her tiny hands were the size of our fingernail.” They weren’t even allowed to touch Robyn for a week.

“She was so small she could not wear any clothes until she was three months old, and even then they were too big on her. She struggled to gain weight and only made it to 1kg three months after she was born,” Chantelle said.

And Robyn has had numerous health challenges — sepsis, blood transfusions, infections, lumbar punctures, blood tests, and an MRI scan which revealed she experienced hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) at birth, which caused brain damage. But Robyn is keeping strong despite it all.

“As parents we are totally devastated for Robyn,” Chantelle said. “She has overcome so many obstacles in her short life already. She truly is a tiny warrior. However, we believe with the right therapies and treatment Robyn will have a chance of improving. She has already shown massive improvement over the last few months.”

Robyn’s due date was July 3rd, a date celebrated by the hospital in a press release. And though she’s still in the hospital, she’s now up to eight pounds, with her parents raising money to help give Robyn the best shot of recovering from her difficult start in life. “We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the staff involved in caring for Robyn at the Grange Hospital NICU department,” Chantelle said. “We are so grateful to them for saving our baby.”