Brazilian gives birth to 'giant' 17lb baby

A woman has given birth to a baby boy described by doctors as a "giant". He weighs nearly 17lb (8kg), twice the size of an average newborn.

Francisca Ramos dos Santos, 38, gave birth to Ademilton by Ceasarean section on Wednesday evening at a hospital in Salvador, north-east Brazil. At birth, Ademilton weighed the same as the average six-month-old baby and he has has been officially declared the biggest boy ever born in Brazil by the Brazilian Gynaecological Association.

The size of the baby, who is Mrs dos Santos's fifth child, was attributed to his mother's diabetes. Her four other children, aged nine, 12, 14 and 15, were all of average weight when they were delivered.

Luiz Sena Azul, a paediatrician at the hospital, described Ademilton as a "giant baby", adding: "He was born weighing what a six-month-old-baby usually weighs."

While the baby's health was described as "good", he is being given glucose intravenously to keep a safe blood sugar level and is receiving oxygen due to breathing difficulties.

Rita Leal, director of the Albert Sabin Maternity Hospital, said: "Both mother and baby are doing just fine." She added: "She knew Ademilton would be a big baby but not this big."

While Ademilton is indisputably the largest baby to have been born in Brazil, he was still several pounds short of the world record. The heaviest baby born to a healthy mother, according to the Guinness Book of Records, was born in Italy in 1955 to Carmelina Fedele. Her baby weighed 22lb 8oz.