NBA Player J.R. Smith Asks For Prayers For Newborn Daughter Who Was Born 5 Months Early

NBA player J.R. Smith of Cleveland Cavaliers and his wife Jewel Harris are asking people to pray for their newborn daughter. The couple has every reason to rejoice with the birth of their daughter. Unfortunately, their baby was born this January, five months earlier than expected.

The Smiths shared the difficult news with their fans through Twitter. He said people have congratulated them for the birth of their baby, not knowing the difficulty they have been facing the past five days. At five days old, their daughter Dakota weighs a mere one pound.

"We know we're not the only family going through this, who has been through this, and who will ever go through it - that's why we decided to share what we're going through with you guys," Harris said. "Please keep us in your prayers and we'll do the same for everyone else."

The Smiths announced the pregnancy as early as October, as per Huffington Post. Harris said they are aware that other families are also going through a similar situation. which helped them with their decision to make it public.

Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that in 2015, one out of 10 babies in the United States were born before the completion of 37 weeks of pregnancy, Fox 8 noted. Neonatologist Dr. Mary Elaine Patrons of Cleveland's Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital said th ere is still a poor and guarded prognosis for babies who were born at 21 weeks.

Meanwhile, the couple also made use of Uninterrupted, a sharing platform for NBA players initiated by teammate LeBron James, to let people know about their pain, according to USA Today. The Smiths, who have two other daughters names Peyton and Demi, are hoping that prayers will help their daughter recover soon.