Baby girl Bui Thi Gai came into the world at the 25th week of her mother’s pregnancy, when she weighed just 500g, making her the smallest newborn baby still alive in Vietnam.

Baby girl Bui Thi Gai, born in the northern city of Hai Duong, came into the world at the 25^th week of her mother’s pregnancy, when she weighed just 500g, making her the smallest newborn baby still alive in Vietnam.

Doctor Nguyen Thanh Ha, chief of the Hanoi-based Central Obstetrics Hospital’s Newborn Children Ward, said the baby was born March 31, when she was just 25 week old. The baby has been placed on a special programme to ensure her health.

The 500g baby has been nurtured through an IV because her stomach and bowels don’t function adequately yet.

Doctor Ha said this is the smallest baby who has been kept alive at the hospital and in Vietnam in general. Last year the hospital cared for a newborn baby who weighed only 600g, he said.

“Babies who are born prematurely often suffer from bleeding meninges, necrosis enteritis, bleeding lung, [and other maladies] because internal organs don’t develop completely. It is lucky that Gai doesn’t face these problems,” said Ha.

As of April 6, the baby no longer needed to use a respiratory machine to breathe, according to Ha.

As of April 8, she began eating normally, with 2ml of milk per meal. Today, the girl weighs 1.7kg and can breathe on her home. Doctors say she will return home very soon.

The baby’s mother, Bui Bich Ngoc, said she thought her baby would not survive given her premature birth.

“Every time we visit my daughter, seeing her growing up I and my husband are very happy,” Ngoc said.

Gai is Ngoc’s second child. Her first son is 10-years-old. She said she and her husband visit the baby every weekend. During the week, her relatives in Hanoi visit the baby daily.

PV