A baby born in Birmingham, Alabama has made history.

According to the Associated Press, Curtis Means was born at 21 weeks, 132 days premature, on July 5, 2020. He also had a twin, C’Asya, who passed away the next day. Means weighed only 14.8 ounces but he is now 16 months old and healthy. The Guinness World Records has given Means the record of the youngest premature infant to survive.

The record was previously held by Richard Hutchinson, from Wisconsin, who was born at 21 weeks, 2 days in June 2020.

Curtis Means was finally discharged from the hospital after 275 days.

Michelle Butler, Curtis’ mother, said in a statement, “Being able to finally take Curtis home and surprise my older children with their younger brother is a moment I will always remember.”

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Dr. Brian Sims of the University of Alabama at Birmingham was the attending physician to the baby. He said in a statement, “We typically advise for compassionate care in situations of such extremely preterm births. This allows the parents to hold their babies and cherish what little time they may have together.”

He also added, “We do not know what all the future will hold for Curtis since there is no one else like him. He started writing his own story the day he was born. That story will be read and studied by many and, hopefully, will help improve care of premature infants around the world.”

According to the CDC, Black women in the U.S. are 50% more likely to have a premature birth than white women.

Studies suggest that in countries such as the United States, women are on fertility drugs and are having multiple babies at one time, which can play a factor into the high rate of premature births. However, the main factors include obesity, diabetes, heart disease, smoking, lack of prenatal care, poor maternal health and drug and alcohol use.

While poverty, education, age and access to health care play a role, past data shows that even Black women with college degrees who earn higher incomes still have higher rates of preterm labor than their white counterparts. Health experts believe that high levels of stress due to racism, post-traumatic stress disorder and genetics could also explain these disparities.