San Diego Baby Born at 11 Ounces Prepares to Head Home

Photo Credit: NBC San Diego An infant who weighed just 11 ounces and was smaller than a soda can at birth is expected to head home from the hospital after six months of intensive care in San Diego.

Now six-months-old, Alexis Clarke – born at just over 25 weeks on April 19 – holds the record for the smallest baby ever delivered at UCSD Medical Center.

“She was 11 ounces. So, she was 340-grams,” mother Laurie Clarke said, holding up the palm of her hand to describe just how small her little girl was at birth. “[She was] smaller than a can of soda. But when I got to see her, she was just our baby angel.”

Alexis was born three-and-a-half months early. According to her mother, doctors had to deliver Alexis early due to complications stemming from an under-developed placenta.

At Alexis’ small size, Clarke said her baby’s odds of survival were low – less than 25 percent. Given survival, doctors told Alexis’ family that her odds of significant and permanent complications were high.

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