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Woman gives birth to 17lb baby |
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Written by Jessica Smith
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Friday, 25 September 2009 |
An Indonesian woman has given birth to an 8.7kg baby boy, the heaviest
newborn ever recorded in the country, a doctor said Wednesday.
The
baby, who is still unnamed and is 62cm long, was born by caesarean
section Monday at a public hospital in North Sumatra province, a
gynaecologist who took part in the operation said.
"This heavy
baby made the surgery really tough, especially the process of taking
him out of his mum's womb. His legs were so big," Binsar Sitanggang
said.
The boy is in a healthy condition despite having to
initially be given oxygen to overcome breathing problems, the
gynaecologist said.
"He's got strong appetite, every minute, it's almost non-stop feeding," he said.
"This baby boy is extraordinary, the way he's crying is not like a usual baby. It's really loud."
The boy's massive size was likely the result of his mother, Ani, 41, having diabetes, Sitanggang said.
She
had to be rushed to hospital due to complications with the pregnancy,
which had reached nine months. The baby, her fourth, was the only child
not delivered by a traditional midwife.
When a diabetic mother's
glucose level is high during pregnancy, the baby can receive too much
glucose and grow too large, according to the American College of
Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
Indonesia's previous heaviest
baby, weighing in at 6.9kg, was born in 2007 on the outskirts of the
capital Jakarta, according to the Indonesian Museum of Records website.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the world's heaviest baby was born to Anna Bates of Canada in 1879.
The baby weighed 10.8kg and died eleven hours after birth.
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