Amillia Sonja Taylor was just 9 1/2 inches long and weighed less than 283 grams — less than a can of soda — when she was delivered on October 24 after just under 22 weeks in the womb.

She had been expected to be sent home from Baptist Children’s Hospital on Tuesday.

However, routine tests indicated she was vulnerable to infection, said Dr Paul Fassbach, who has cared for the baby since shortly after she was born.

“She has been fine,” Fassbach said today, but doctors are being extra cautious “now that she’s going into the world”.

Doctors say Amillia is among the few babies known to have survived after a gestation of fewer than 22 weeks. She was delivered by caesarean section. Full-term births come after 37 to 40 weeks.

Amillia, the first child for Eddie and Sonja Taylor of Homestead, now weighs 2.04 kg and is just over 15 1/2 inches long.

She has suffered respiratory and digestive problems, as well as a mild brain haemorrhage, but doctors believe the health concerns will not have major long-term effects.