The unnamed child was delivered at 24 weeks and could fit into a pair of cupped hands. Photo / Supplied
A baby who was born the size of a large onion has entered the medical record books.
At just 268 grams - under 10 ounces - he becomes the boy with the lowest birth weight to have been discharged from hospital in good health.
Following five months of treatment at Keio University Hospital in Tokyo, the infant weighs 7lbs and is said to be feeding normally.
"I'm happy he has grown this big because honestly, I wasn't sure he could survive," the boy's mother said.
The unnamed child was delivered at 24 weeks and could fit into a pair of cupped hands.
The record was previously held by a boy born in Germany in 2009 at 274 grams, the hospital said, citing a registry put together by the University of Iowa.
The smallest girl - also from Germany - was born at 25 weeks in 2015 weighing 0.56lbs (252g).
According to the register, only 23 babies have been born prematurely weighing less than 0.66lbs (300g) and survived, of which just four were boys.
The register collects information from medical journals, media reports and cases that have been self-reported by a family member alongside verification from a healthcare professional.
Around 90 per cent of babies born in Japan that weigh less than 2.2lbs (1,000g) survive, however, very few under 0.66lbs make it.
What happens when you come face to face with a heavy truck on a single-lane gravel track?