A baby girl born at just 24 weeks weighing only 1lb 9oz has gone home from hospital after 98 days in neonatal intensive care.
Daveen Ajayi, born on 25 March, was born so early she faced a series of serious medical challenges, including underdeveloped lungs, a fragile immune system, the risk of brain bleeds, and an inability to feed or swallow on her own.
Her mother, Titilope Ajayi, a nurse practitioner, recalled how difficult the journey had been.
“Since she was a micro preemie, a lot of what she went through in the NICU was expected, but it was still incredibly hard” she said.
“When your baby is in the NICU for that long, all you can think is, ‘Please, I don’t want her to be sick. I don’t want her to have any complications’”.
Despite having already experienced a premature birth with her older son who was born at 27 weeks, Titilope said nothing could have prepared her for the emotional rollercoaster of Daveen’s stay in the NICU.
“I had this app on my phone – the BabyCenter app – that tracks your pregnancy day by day. I kept using it even though I wasn’t pregnant anymore. I felt so much guilt, like, ‘Oh my God, this baby is still supposed to be inside me’”.
Neonatal nurse Sajana Sibi, part of Daveen’s care team, explained how personal the NICU work becomes. “As a neonatal nurse, I check on the baby every three hours” Sibi said.
“A baby’s status can change suddenly, so we monitor neurodevelopment closely, track for potential delays, and prepare for early interventions if needed”.
“A lot of the time, we just try to be there with [the parents]. We cry with them and give them space to grieve with their baby”.
With the support of her medical team and after over three months in hospital, baby Daveen was finally able to go home, weighing a healthy 6lb 2oz, and she’s still gaining weight.
Improving survival rate for extremely premature babies
In the UK, the survival rate for extremely premature babies has improved in recent decades. A 2008 study looking at survival rates for a neonatal intensive care unit in London found that neonatal survival rates at 22 and 23 weeks gestation had improved over time. In 1981-85, no babies who were born at these gestational ages survived to discharge. However, by 1986-90, 19% did and this increased to 54% in the period 1996-2000.
In the decade to 2019 alone, the survival rate for extremely premature babies born at 23 weeks doubled, prompting new guidance from the British Association of Perinatal Medicine (BAPM) that enables doctors to intervene to save premature babies from 22 weeks gestation. The previous clinical guidance, drafted in 2008, set the standard that babies who were born before 23 weeks gestation should not be resuscitated.
Research published in November 2023 by academics at the University of Leicester and Imperial College London found a total of 261 babies born alive at 22 and 23 weeks, who survived to discharge from hospital in 2020 and 2021.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “Stories like Daveen’s show the power of medical innovation and parental love. At just 24 weeks, she faced uphill battle, but she made it, and is now home with her family. Daveen’s survival reminds us just how real and precious life is, even in its earliest stages”.
