The smallest of the world's only surviving octuplets made progress in her fight for life yesterday in Houston, Texas, but doctors warned that the 11.3-oz baby and her siblings were still in precarious condition.
"Baby E", the size of a Beanie Baby toy and small enough to fit in a woman's hand, was considered the least likely of the prematurely-born infants to survive. She measures just 9.75 ins in length. But doctors overnight were able to reduce the amount of oxygen given to her by 20 per cent, indicating some improvement in her condition.
"This is the type of small, steady progress we hope for," said Dr Leonard Weisman, head of neonatal services at Texas Children's Hospital. "However, with babies this premature and this small, the pendulum can swing the other way and back again in a matter of hours."
The six girls and two boys, still unnamed, were born to 27-year-old Ms Nkem Chukwu who was on fertility drugs when she conceived.
Seven of the babies were delivered by caesarean section on Sunday, 10 weeks premature. The eighth, a girl, was born naturally on December 8th, 12 weeks ahead of schedule. They ranged in weight from 11.3 oz (320 grams) to 28.6 oz (810 grams) at birth, but have not been weighed since because doctors prefer not to disturb them.
All eight remained in critical condition, with seven on ventilators, but Dr Weisman said that time was their ally. "With babies this premature, you don't want significant changes. You want time, time for their lungs and hearts to develop and time for their bodies to get stronger," he said.