Mum gives birth to baby that weighs same as a bowling ball after feeling 'tired'

Daniela Barbosa Nobre, from Brazil, has given birth to a giant baby which weighs the same as a bowling ball and the mum admitted that she was expecting a big one

A baby as heavy as a bowling ball has been delivered in Brazil with the mum admitting she was expecting a big child.

Daniela Barbosa Nobre, a resident of Quixeramobim, said that she had been feeling "tired tired" in the months up to the birth on October 24 and she had a very big baby bump. The newborn called Antony Gael weighed in at 5kg 11lb when he was delivered at Hospital Regional do Sertão Central (HRSC) in Quixeramobim. He is described as having the condition macrosomia due to his extreme weight.

Children are normally born weighing between 2.5kg and 4kg and so clearly Antony was significantly heavier leading to medics taking certain precautions. His mum Daniela had a caesarean section which was carried out successfully and both the mum and child were fine.

He is the third child of Daniela, a farmer, who said that her other children were born with normal weights but she did feel that Antony was going to be heavier due to the symptoms in the final phase of pregnancy. This included her being tired and the size of her baby bump.

She said: "From the seventh month onwards I was feeling very tired. I couldn’t do anything because I got tired. My belly got huge." Paulo Fernandes, a pediatrician at the hospital said of babies who are born heavy: “It can be the result of genetic factors, but the main one is a predisposition of the pregnant woman to diabetes.”

Dr Fernandes said when prenatal care identifies that the baby is overweight, for safety reasons, the birth should be by cesarean section. He added that despite Antony's good health some special measures have been adopted. "It is necessary for him to be monitored by a pediatrician and a nutritionist," he said.

According to the coordinator of the obstetrics unit, Cris Angela, HRSC is a reference in the region for complex births. “Our focus is on finding out what is causing the unusual weight. And depending on the cause, our team works with post-birth care,” she commented.

The team monitors blood sugar levels, encourages breastfeeding, monitors feedings, and offers a specific formula to supplement the baby's calorie needs. The record for the largest baby in Brazil was made in January last year when Anderson Santos was born in Parintins weighing 7.3kg and measuring 59cm.