Saving baby Rourou: case highlights challenges of premature births

Beating the odds

With a short cervical canal and intrauterine infection, Huang Wei delivered Rourou in October last year, about five months earlier than the due date.

Babies born extremely prematurely have nearly no chance of surviving. Almost everyone advised Huang to give up on the pregnancy.

But she was determined to have her first baby, even if it posed a risk to her own life. After six years of marriage, Rourou was conceived with the help of in vitro fertilization.

The baby was born at night, and the doctors and nurses involved in the delivery were determined to save Rourou. They worked quickly to ensure the newborn's resuscitation and provided respiratory, circulatory, and nutritional support in the "golden" first hour after the birth.

Never having treated a baby born so prematurely, the medical team had to explore the most suitable care methods based on past experiences. They kept the incubator's environment as similar to a human womb as far as they possibly could. The brain tissue of a premature baby is as soft as tofu. So, to avoid a hemorrhage, two to three nurses were involved in moving Rourou's fragile little body.

Huang was separated from the baby and not allowed to visit the neonatal ward. The new mother had to rely on video calls and photos to see her son.

She did not return to her home in Jieyang, Guangdong, but rented a room near the hospital. Huang expressed milk every day and sent it to the hospital, where the nurses fed it to Rourou.

After 143 days in the hospital, his weight increased from 450 g to 4 kilograms, even heavier than some full-term babies. During his recovery, he overcame a serious infection and underwent eye surgery. With all his tubes removed and suffering no brain hemorrhage, the baby was discharged from the hospital safe and sound.

Huang spent about 380,000 yuan ($52,000) to save her son, with 60 percent reimbursed by national health insurance.

Due to financial pressure, she returned to Jieyang to raise the baby and goes to Shenzhen every month for checkups.

Yet the burden of childcare has been compounded. She is seeking a divorce from her husband, who she said has a significant gambling debt.

Huang quit her job to prepare for pregnancy and has taken to social media for financial help. She has shared Rourou's videos online and generated income from selling maternity and baby products.

At the baby's one-year zhuazhou, a ceremony where a child randomly picks an item to predict their future, Rourou grabbed a writing brush representing future good wishes.

This auspicious choice filled Huang with hope that her child will grow into a knowledgeable person capable of making meaningful contributions to society.