World's tiniest baby boy goes home from Tokyo hospital

TOKYO: A baby boy who weighed just 268grams (9.45oz) at birth has been released from hospital in Japan, and is believed to be the smallest surviving baby boy in the world.

The baby was born by emergency C-section in August, and was so small he could fit into a pair of cupped hands.

The infant was nurtured in intensive care and had grown to the weight of 3.2 kilograms.

Born at 24 weeks, the tiny boy spent five months in hospital.

"I can only say I'm happy that he has grown this big because honestly, I wasn't sure he could survive," the boy's mother said, according to hospital sources.

The previous record was held by a baby boy born in Germany in 2009 weighing 274 grams, according to the Tiniest Babies registry managed by the University of Iowa.

The smallest surviving baby girl was also born in Germany, in 2015, and reportedly weighed 252grams.