It happened in a hospital in the Republic of Dagestan, in southwestern Russia, where a 42-year-old woman gave birth to her fifth baby, a girl who weighed 6.3 kilos at birth.
The little girl was born of natural form, without the need for caesarean section, nor should they have used any instruments such as forceps or suckers to help her be born. And what most attracts attention, the mother has given birth without epidural anesthesia.
Macrosomia, babies born too big
The baby was born without health problems, they only detected an ear problem, do not rule out future complications. And being born too big has its risks, hence it is even more amazing that childbirth has been possible without the need for interventions or anesthesia.
We usually talk about macrosomia when it is estimated that the weight of the baby at birth will be greater than the 90th percentile or greater than 4 kilos of weight. It is considered to be from 4.5 kilos of weight when complications increase significantly.
First in childbirth, because due to the disproportion pelvic fetus, vaginal deliveries of high-weight babies can be lengthened, putting the mother or child in danger, and being necessary most of the time go to caesarean section. There is also a risk of presenting shoulder dystocia, clavicle rupture, neonatal asphyxiation and meconium aspiration.
As for the risks to the health of the baby, there is a considerable possibility that he suffers problems with the regulation of his own blood glucose, as well as that he presents malformations or alterations of the heart.
Among the most frequent risk factors for giving birth to a macrosomic baby are: maternal obesity, previous birth of a macrosomic baby, and excessive weight gain and especially BMI (body mass index) of the mother. And especially maternal diabetes, both before pregnancy and gestational diabetes, is the most common factor in many cases.
Other births of giant babies
Last year we met a very similar case. An Australian mother who gave birth to a six-kilo baby without an epidural, but instead used an analgesic gas (nitrous oxide) known as the gas of laughter. We have also known other cases of giant babies:
- In Florida, a woman was expecting twins and only one of 6.4 kilos arrived.
- In Russia one of 6.1 kilos and 63 cm was born.
- In Germany one of 6 kilos was born, and by vaginal delivery.
- Here in Spain was born a girl of 6.2 kilos that in this case was by natural birth.
- In Texas, one of 7,540 kilos was born.
- And in Indonesia the largest of them was born, which weighed 8.7 kilos and measured 62 cms.
The world record in the Guinness Book of Records is held by a child who was born in Italy in 1955 with 10.2 kilos.
