How much did your children weigh at birth? My daughter weighed in at a healthy 7 pounds, 7 ounces. Not bad, considering she was born about two weeks ahead of schedule. Prior to giving birth I had bet my husband that she would weigh in at about 8 pounds. Had she stayed tight until her actual due date I may have been able to cash in on that bet. I thought about my daughter’s birth weight the other day when I heard about the Brazilian mother who recently gave birth to one of the area’s largest babies.
According to news reports, Elisa Maia dos Ribeiro, a 36-year-old housewife gave birth to a baby girl who measured 23.23 inches and weighed 14 pounds. Hospital officials tell local reporters the baby is so large that her “feet reach over the edge of her crib.”
While city officials say the baby (whose name is Isabel Victoria) does not hold the title of Brazil’s largest baby—a baby born in January 2005 in the northeastern city of Salvador who weighed 16 pounds, 11 ounces at birth currently holds the title—she is considered the largest born at the hospital. However, neither baby comes close to the whopper of a child who landed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the heaviest baby born to a healthy mother. Carmelina Fedele of Aversa, Italy gave birth to a boy weighing 22 pounds, 8 ounces in September 1955. Ouch!
According to new reports, Isabel Victoria was born via c-section, but was reportedly in good health. She’s the first daughter born to her mother who has already given birth to three boys (though none of them weighed as much as their “little sister.”) Hospital officials did say Ribeiro suffers from diabetes, which could be one of the main reasons why the baby was born so large.