Thaindian News

London, Sep 28 (ANI): A premature British baby who was on the verge of dying survived after being kept warm in a bubble wrap bag.

Lexi Lacey weighed just 14oz when she was born at 26 weeks. The average weight of a full-term child, born after 37 weeks, is 7lb 6oz.

Parents Chelsea Rowberry, 17, and Lee Lacey, 24, from Worcester were warned by medics that it was unlikely Lexi would survive.

Lexi-Marie Lacey was kept warm in her first hours in a plastic bag shrouded in bubble wrap.

But the youngster battled against all the odds and pulled through. She is now a happy, healthy 11-week-old baby - but still only weighs 5lb 6oz.

Chelsea said people were stunned that Lexi had survived.

‘When they see her now people don’t believe me when I tell them how premature she was,’ the Daily Mail quoted her as saying.

When they got to the hospital, Chelsea was told that she was already 3cm dilated and she gave birth to 14oz Lexi.

After the umbilical cord was removed Lexi was popped straight into the plastic bag.

Dr Andrew Gallagher, consultant paediatrician at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, said: ‘When very small babies are born, to keep them warm they are placed in a plastic bag for about 30 minutes.

‘We pop them in feet first and their head sticks out the top of the bag so that the water can’t evaporate off them very easily. It acts as a little micro-environment for them to be in before they are later transferred to the neonatal unit and placed in an incubator and the bag is removed.

‘The bags come from NHS supplies and are on a roll. They are open at the top, see through and about the same size as a sandwich bag but without the sealant at the top,’ Gallagher added. (ANI)