Premature baby twins born at 24 weeks were discharged from hospital in time to enjoy Christmas at home with their parents.
Kai and Raven McKinney were due at the end of October, but arrived at just 24 weeks pregnant in July. Both weighed less than 2 pounds at birth, the same size as the toy rabbits their family used to measure their growth.
The babies’ parents, Andee and Justin, reported which gave them a 55% chance the babies would survive. They had been trying to conceive for six years, leaving them “devastated” at the prospect of losing their children.
Both babies proved to fight for four months in the hospital
Kai is finally home with his parents after 114 days in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), followed by his sister Raven 22 days later. Raven’s recovery was particularly remarkable, growing from an initial 1.5lbs to 8lb 6oz when she was discharged from hospital.
“We’re excited”, said the twins’ mother, Andee, “We never thought this day would come”. He said “I’ve got two presents over there” in reference to her babies coming home before Christmas.
Dr. Rachel Everett, the medical director of the NICU at Memorial Hospital’s Gauthier campus, attended Raven’s discharge and spoke of the “team effort” that went into saving the twins.
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Survival rates for premature babies are improving
A 2022 study‘Mortality, In-Hospital Morbidity, Care Practices, and 2-Year Outcomes for Extremely Preterm Infants in the US, 2013-2018’, by Dr Edward F Bell of the University of Iowa, found that from 2013 to 2018, including infants born between 22 and 28 weeks of gestation, “survival to discharge occurred at 78.3% and was significantly improved compared to the previous rate of 76.0% among infants born in 2008-2012”.
The study, which took place between 2013 and 2018, assessed 10,877 babies born between 22 and 28 weeks’ gestation at 19 academic medical centers across the US.
The same trends are replicated elsewhere. In 2022, John Wyatt, Professor of Ethics and Perinatology at University College London and Emeritus Professor of Neonatal Paediatrics, Ethics and Perinatology at University College London, the evidence was presented to parliamentarians from the UK and around the world “that there has been a steady improvement in the survival chances of babies born at 22 and 23 weeks’ gestation since the Abortion Act was last amended [in 1990]”.
Right to Life UK spokeswoman Catherine Robinson said, “It’s great to hear another story of premature babies who have beaten the odds to be home with their families in time for Christmas. These stories speak of resilience of human life and should encourage us to advocate for these very young babies who will fight to survive when given the chance”.
LifeNews Note: Republished with permission from Right to Life UK.
