World's smallest baby' weighed 258 gms

This handout picture taken on October 5, 2018 and released by Nagano Children's hospital on April 19, 2019 shows Ryusuke Sekiya being treated at Nagano Children's hospital in Azumino. Pic/AFP

Tokyo: The world's smallest baby boy, who was born in October in Japan weighing as much like an apple, is now ready for the outside world, his doctor said on Friday.

Ryusuke Sekiya was delivered via emergency Caesarean section, after 24 weeks and five days of pregnancy as his mother Toshiko experienced hypertension. He weighed 258 grams. When Ryusuke was born on October 1, 2018, he measured 22 centimetres (8.66 inches) tall, and the medical staff kept him in a neonatal ICU. They used tubes to feed him, sometimes taking cotton swabs to apply his mother's milk to his mouth. Nearly seven months later, the boy has grown 13 times in weight, now weighing over 3kgs. He will be released from Nagano Children's Hospital in central Japan over the weekend.

Six-month-old Ryusuke Sekiya (C) is pictured with his parents one day before his scheduled discharge from a hospital in Azumino, Nagano prefecture on April 19, 2019. Ryusuke Sekiya was born on October 1, 2018, as the world's smallest baby boy via an emergency Caesarean section, weighing only 258 grams (9.1 ounces) after 24 weeks and five days of pregnancy as his mother Toshiko experienced hypertension. Pic/AFP

"When he was born it seemed as if he would break with a touch. I was so worried," said his mother Toshiko. "Now we can give him a bath. I am happy that I can see him growing," she said. Agencies He was born ( top) in October; (above) the boy now.

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