Nash Keen, born at just 21 weeks gestation and weighing a mere 10 ounces, celebrated his first birthday on July 5, earning the Guinness World Record as the most premature baby to survive.
His remarkable survival, hailed as a miracle by his family and doctors, underscores the pro-life belief in the sanctity of life from its earliest stages, offering hope to families facing extreme prematurity.
Nash was born 133 days before his due date on July 5, at the University of Iowa Health Care Stead Family Children’s Hospital, surpassing the previous record held by Curtis Means, who was born at 21 weeks and 1 day.
“It’s emotional in so many ways: pride, gratitude, even some grief for how different his journey has been,” said Nash’s mother, Mollie Keen. “But above all, it feels like a victory.”
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The journey began with heartbreak for Mollie and Randall Keen, who lost their daughter, McKinley, at 18 weeks in 2023. Diagnosed with an incompetent cervix, Mollie faced preterm labor at 20 weeks with Nash, learning she was already two centimeters dilated.
Typically, babies born before 22 weeks are not considered viable, but Mollie discovered the Iowa hospital’s neonatal team was equipped to attempt lifesaving measures at 21 weeks. And this is pushing new meanings for the word viability.
“One of my really good friends helped put me in some support groups for incompetent cervix, and we posted my situation,” Mollie said. “A former NICU mom, who happened to be at the University of Iowa at that time with her premature daughter, had said Iowa City is doing life-saving measures on 21-weekers.”
Nash’s birth required immediate resuscitation.
“I was able to get our smallest breathing tube in Nash, and he responded very nicely to that,” said Dr. Amy Sanford, one of Nash’s doctors. “His heart rate stabilized, his oxygen levels stabilized, and so Nash was showing us that he was strong enough to have a fighting chance.”
Rushed to the hospital’s Level IV neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), Nash faced “many critical challenges,” according to Dr. Amy Stanford, but made “steady progress” over 189 days.
“It’s so rewarding now to see him. You would have no idea when you look at him that he is the world’s most premature baby,” Dr. Stanford said. “We’re immensely proud of Nash, we could not be prouder of him. He is truly a miracle.”
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Author: Melanie Wilcox
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