At the beginning of February, six-month-old Rumaisa Rahman finally went home. Rumaisa weighed just 260g (9oz) at her birth, in Illinois in the US, and is believed to be the smallest baby in the world to survive.
When she left hospital she weighed 2.52kg (5lb 8oz) and is expected to have normal physical and mental development like Hiba, her larger twin sister, who weighed 566g (1lb 4oz) at birth.
Premature babies make up some 10 per cent of all births in Britain - the highest rate of premature births in Europe and one that continues to rise.
About half of premature births have no known cause, but multiple births and obesity in the mother have contributed significantly to the increase in premature births.
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