Indonesian woman sets heaviest baby record

A woman has marked her name in the Indonesian history by giving birth to an 8.7kg (19.2 pound) baby boy, by far the country's largest newborn ever.

The baby, who is still unnamed, was born at the Abdul Manan General Hospital in the town of Asahan in North Sumatra province, said a gynecologist who had taken part in the operation, according to press reports.

Doctors delivered the baby, who measured 62cm, by the Caesarean section on Monday, hospital staff said Thursday.

They noted that the mother was a 41-year-old woman named Ani, who had three other children. They had all been delivered at home by midwifes.

"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," said the gynecologist, Binsar Sitanggang.

Although doctors had to give oxygen to the boy to help him overcome breathing problems at the time of birth, he is in a healthy condition now, Sitanggang explained.

"He's got strong appetite, every minute, it's almost non-stop feeding. This baby boy is extraordinary; the way he's crying is not like a usual baby. It's really loud," he added.

Sitanggang said the boy's massive size was probably the result of his mother having diabetes.

Medical research shows that diabetic mothers can give birth to extraordinarily large babies if their glucose level is high during pregnancy, a condition that makes the fetus grow too large.

Records show that until Monday, the largest baby born in Indonesia weighed 6.9kg. The previous record holder's mother was a diabetic woman who gave birth in Jakarta in 2007.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the heaviest baby ever was born to Anna Bates of Canada in 1879. The newborn, which weighed 10.8kg (23.12lb), died 11 hours after birth.