Minnesota quintuplet born weighing 8 ounces, considered the 2nd smallest baby ever, goes home for 1st birthday
The birth of quintuplets is already a rare event, but imagine the smallest of the five weighing just 8 ounces. After an incredible year-long journey, Bilal — the tiniest of five — is finally going home.
For years, Hawa Mohamed dreamed of being a mother. After countless heartbreaks, she was blessed with not one but five babies.
Born at the Mother Baby Center, a partnership between Allina Health and Children's Minnesota, Bilal and his siblings were born at just 23 weeks; their survival was uncertain from the start.
For the team at Children's Minnesota, Bilal's case was historic. Dr. Thomas George, the Medical Director for Neonatology, said the odds of all five surviving were around 10%.
"Eight ounces would make Bilal the second smallest baby in the world described in the tiniest babies registry," George said.
According to the records published by the University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital, the only child weighing less at birth on record is a baby girl born in Singapore in 2020, weighing approximately 7.5 ounces at the time.
Bilal's road to survival was not easy; he received around-the-clock care to support his breathing and weight gain.
Mohamed, speaking in Somali, told WCCO she didn't think Bilal was going to survive, but she was hopeful the team taking care of him were doing all they could. She is taking the last baby home exactly a year to the day after she welcomed them into the world.
"All praise to god," Mohamed said. "I'm very happy today because my children and I are healthy and going home."
The team that helped the babies beat the odds helped them celebrate their incredible journey and birthday.
All five siblings not only survived but are expected to develop and grow normally thanks to the life-saving expertise of the neonatology team at Children's Minnesota, one of the largest neonatology programs in the country.
These are the first quintuplets cared for by the neonatal team at Children's Minnesota in more than a decade.
