[LAC+USC Healthcare Network] – Born 16 weeks early and weighing barely half a pound at birth, one of the smallest surviving babies ever born anywhere in the world is growing and thriving at a Los Angeles County Hospital.

Melinda Star Guido may be tiny, but Global Birth Registry figures show that combining both gestational age and weight, Melinda is the third smallest baby ever born in the world. She was just 24 weeks old and weighed only 270 grams when she was born at Los Angeles County + University of Southern California Medical Center.

“She was always fighting, all the nurses were saying that she was really feisty, she was always fighting for her life,” said Melinda’s parents, Haydee Ibarra and Yovani Guido.

“The first three or four days I was worried if this baby was going to make it. So every day, more than once we spoke to the family and said take it minute by minute,” said Dr. Rangasamy Ramanathan, Chief of the Neonatology Section at LAC+USC.

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at LAC+USC and their partner organizations will follow Melinda over the next six years to check on her health and ensure her continued quality of life.