Anantapur: Woman delivers baby boy with record weight of 5.2kg

Anantapur: A woman has delivered a baby boy with a record weight of 5.2kg in Anantapur.

The 30-year-old mother had various health complications and the doctors successfully performed C-section amid several challenges.

Usually, newborn Indian babies weigh around 2.5 to 4 kg. The average weight is 3 to 3.5 kgs only.

Such gigantic or overweight babies, who weigh more than four kg, are said to have a condition called macrosomia (the Greek word for the large body). Mothers having gestational diabetes, obesity, overdue pregnancies, and higher maternal and paternal age (above 35 years) are risk factors for giving birth to such overweight babies, say doctors

Elaborating on the case, consultant gynaecologist and obstetrician Dr. Shilpa Chowdary at KIMS Saveera Hospital, Anantapur explained, “A 30-year-old woman from Dharmavaram was sent with high amniotic fluid, very swollen stomach, and high blood pressure. When we took an ultrasound scan, the weight of the pregnant baby and the amniotic fluid measurement were very high. Normally, the fluid level is five cm. But in this case, it was 28 cm. As it was a high-risk case, we immediately admitted her and conducted a medical examination. Generally, pregnant women have a belly of 36 inches. But in her case, she has a 48-inch stomach due to the high amniotic fluid and the weight of the pregnant baby. So, administering the anaesthesia was also a big challenge for our team. She didn’t undergo any scans after the fifth month.”

“The pregnant woman already has two children and they too had higher birth weight (3.7 and 4.5 kg respectively). She had undergone C-sections during both previous deliveries. So, even now, we preferred the same procedure, considering her high-risk conditions. She had hypertension and diabetes in the very first pregnancy itself. This time too, when she came to us for delivery, her vitals were on a higher node. So, we had to perform the C-section with utmost care because of the complexity of this case,” added Dr Shilpa.

“The baby boy was put in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for 10 days and observed. At the time of discharge, both the mother and the baby were in sound health. However, such overweight babies are at risk of developing obesity and diabetes in the future. So we have suggested to them to be cautious,” averred Dr Shilpa.

Most overweight babies

As per records, the world's heaviest baby born so far was from Italy in the year 1955, a male child weighing 10.2 kgs.

In India, the heaviest baby on record so far weighed 6.8 kgs, a girl from Karnataka, born in May 2016.

Another baby boy from Uttar Pradesh born in November 2015, weighed 6.7 kgs, said to be the second most overweight newborn in the country.