Doctors in northeastern Turkey's Trabzon have successfully treated a premature baby, weighing just 750 grams at the time of birth. The baby was sent home after 80 days in intensive care, its mother and the doctors said yesterday.

The baby was born prematurely to Songül Sandıkçı, in the 25th week of pregnancy, at a hospital in Trabzon, in the country's Black Sea region, and is now heading home weighing 2.4 kilograms, doctors said. Sandıkçı said she suffered miscarriage twice due to cervical insufficiency. "The baby is doing fine now. It was a very difficult process. I had two miscarriages before, so I was scared of pre-term birth." She said the doctors and nurses gave her moral support and motivated her. "I thank each and every one of them."

According to global health standards, the range of normal weight of a baby at the time of birth is between 2.5 kg and 4.5 kilograms.

In recorded medical history, the lowest birth weight for a surviving infant has been documented at a U.S. hospital in 2004, when Rumaisa Rahman gave birth to a baby, weighing just 260 grams. The UNICEF and World Health Organization (WHO) data suggest that 11.4 percent of all babies born in Turkey every year are underweight, against the global average of 15 percent.

Dr. Berna Hekimoğlu, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit supervisor at the Trabzon hospital, said although the patient who suffered cervical insufficiency had stitches in her cervix, she gave birth in the 25th week of pregnancy. Hekimoğlu underlined that after staying for 80 days of intensive care the baby is now in good health. The doctor added that baby Hasan was attached to mechanical ventilation for the first 10 days. The doctor said premature babies could experience problems in sight, hearing or brain development, adding that routine checkups at the hospital are a must.