A baby girl who weighed just over 400 grams when she was born has been discharged from hospital.
Maya Dube was born three months prematurely in December 2024 and spent the following months in the Rotunda Hospital. She is the smallest baby the team in the hospital have ever cared for.
Her mother, Sipeto, was told there was only a 50 per cent chance of survival but said her discharge from hospital was a “relief” and she is so happy to have her daughter home.
According to Ms Dube, Maya’s arrival was a surprise and she “couldn’t recognise her at all because she was very, very tiny”.
“She had to stay in the incubator for two weeks before I got to touch her. It was a difficult time for me, personally, because I was not expecting that to happen,” she told RTÉ Radio 1.
Ms Dube said her baby was discharged from hospital on Wednesday after 116 days, weighing 2.3kg.
“It was a huge sense of relief having stayed there for three months. It was a long stay for us. I was in college the whole time, so I would visit her in the afternoon,” she said.
Her first night at home was a “great night”, Ms Dube said.
Although her mother was initially worried the infant would have difficulty sleeping, this was not the case.
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“I hope she grows strong like she did in the ICU. I hope she has a smooth journey growing up.”
Michael Boyle, consultant neonatologist at the Rotunda Hospital, said when Maya was born, she was just over 400g her weight decreased to 380g when the umbilical cord was cut.
“Super, super tiny. She fit into my hand. She was a tiny little thing. But she was mighty from the get go. She was on a breathing machine for the first three or four weeks of life,” he said.
Mr Boyle said the excitement in the hospital around Maya’s discharge was “so amazing” and “there wasn’t a dry eye in the house”.
“To have this lovely story and see this fantastic little girl go home, we’ve the best job in the world.”
