A Brazilian mum spent eight days in hospital after giving birth to a baby who weighed nearly six kilos – twice the normal size.
Maira Trevisan is still reeling from the shock of the size her newborn daughter who is one of the heaviest babies ever born in the South American country.
Gabrielly was delivered at Cascavel University Hospital in Parana, south Brazil, on September 19 and discharged eight days later because of health problems.
But even before her birth doctors knew she would be bigger than the average bundle of joy.
Tipping the scales at a whopping 5.72 kilos or 12.61 pounds, baby Gabrielly smashed the hospital’s 27-year-old record of an infant weighing 5kgs.
Maira, 36, said: “It was a bit of a shock and surprisingly uncomfortable the first day I took her into my arms. I didn’t expect her to be so heavy and so long.
“But I’m now getting used to her.”
Her daughter measures an astonishing 54 centimetres or nearly 22 inches long and is almost twice the weight of the average newborn.
Maira said: “The doctor told me he had never done an ultrasound of a child so big.
“In fact, he underestimated just how big she was going to be. But he correctly predicted she was going to be the largest baby ever born in the unit.
The business woman, who runs a hotel with her husband Antonio said she had a smooth pregnancy and gained 11kgs or 1.7 stone above her normal weight of 79kgs or 12.4 stone.
But she did notice something was different.
Maira recalled: “My belly grew big really fast and we thought I was carrying twins.
“At six months Gabrielly was already weighing 1.9kgs (4.1 pounds).
Normally at this stage a child weighs around 600grams (1.3 pounds).”
But because of her size, the big baby girl was born with an enlarged heart and was placed in an incubator for eight days while doctors monitored her breathing.
“For the first three days I couldn’t breastfeed because she had difficulty breathing and needed oxygen. Now she’s feeding without any problems,” Maira explained.
The baby was discharged from hospital after cardiologists gave her the all clear.