Scissors save premature baby's life
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Maddalena Douse is one of the smallest premature babies ever to survive in the U.K. — thanks to a pair of scissors.
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When she was born six months ago at just 23 weeks, she was so tiny doctors did not know if they should try to save her.
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But when they put her on the scales she weighed 1 pound, the minimum weight for a baby to be considered viable — so they fought for her.
Only when she was safely on a ventilator did doctors discover the scissors had been accidentally left on the scales, and that 8-inch Maddalena in fact weighed only .84 pounds, or about 13 ounces.
The lucky baby has now been discharged from the Royal Sussex Hospital and is expected to grow into a healthy child. Maddalena's twin sister, Isabella, died a few weeks after the girls' birth.
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“She now weighs 5½ pounds and is getting stronger by the day," Maddalena's mother, Kate, said. "She’s our little miracle, and we’re so glad to have her home in time for Christmas.”