ORLANDO, Fla. — After spending six months in the NICU at Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies, “micro-preemie” baby Diana is spending World Prematurity Day on Tuesday at home with her family in Ocala.
Diana, born at less than 22 weeks and weighing just 12 ounces, is the tiniest baby to ever survive at Winnie Palmer, and one of the smallest and most premature in the world.
READ: From the NICU to graduation day: Twins born at 23 weeks defy the odds to get their diplomas
“I looked at her and I just shook my head like, ‘she’s just really small,’" the baby’s father Federico Peguero said. "She is obviously the smallest human being I’ve ever seen.”
Winnie Palmer said baby Diana didn’t need any lifesaving surgeries following her birth, and she now weighs 7 pounds.
0 of 5
The odds were stacked against Diana from birth, but her mother Jomary Tavarez said the baby was able to overcome them to graduate the NICU and head home 180 days after she was born.
“If she survives three days, we’re going to give her two weeks," Tavarez said. "Two weeks turned into months and now we’re here six months later.”
According to the University of Iowa’s Tiniest Baby Registry, baby Diana joins a group of only 10 babies in the world to survive at her size and gestational age.
March of Dimes recognizes Nov. 17 as World Prematurity Day to shine a light on the global crisis of prematurity. The organization is collecting donations on Tuesday to support lifesaving research and community-based programs to improve the health of mothers and babies. Click here to learn more.
TINIEST BABY EVER!
— Lauren Seabrook (@LSeabrookWFTV) November 7, 2020
This is an absolute miracle. Baby Diana was released from the hospital today after being born born at less than 22 weeks and weighing just 12 oz. 💗
Considered a “micro-preemie,” she is the tiniest baby to ever survive... (1/3) pic.twitter.com/5Oh0p7HDEi
