Giant Baby 'Jihad' Weighing 13 Pounds Born in Berlin to 528-Pound Mother
A baby weighing 13 pounds was born at the Charité hospital in Berlin on Friday and his name is "Jihad."
The 40-year-old mother weighs 528 pounds and suffers from gestational diabetes and doctors said she probably has a metabolic disorder, The Local reported. Women who give birth when they have untreated gestational diabetes often give birth to overweight babies.
The unidentified mother has 13 other children – four of whom were born weighing more than 11 pounds.
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Although The Local did not report any health problems, babies like Jihad face considerable health risks by being born to an overweight, diabetic mother.
According to Dr. Sonja Rasmussen, of the Center for Disease Control's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, babies born from overweight mothers have an 18 percent higher risk of developing heart defects, compared to babies of normal-weight mothers. Babies born from severely obese mothers face a 31 percent higher risk, reported ABC News.
Jihad faced further risk when his mother refused a caesarean section delivery, which is a standard procedure for babies of his size due the increased risk of oxygen deficiency and shoulder dislocations.
"She insisted on a vaginal birth despite the very high risk," said Wolfgang Henrich, the chief doctor at Charité's obstetrics clinic. "We usually advise mothers carrying a child with an estimated weight of more than 4.5 kilos (9.9 pounds) to opt for a caesarean section to avoid complications."
The name "Jihad" is listed on Muslim baby name sites as meaning "strive," as well as the more commonly known definition: "holy war."
The religion of Jihad's family was not reported.
Although 13 pounds is very big, bigger babies have recently been born. In July of this year, a 16-pound baby was born in Texas, named JaMichael. The mother also had gestational diabetes, reported KYTX.
Both Jihad and JaMichael would have been dwarfed by the biggest baby ever recorded, who was born in 1879 in Ohio and weighed a gigantic 23 pounds, 12 ounces, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. The mother was a "giantess" and was 7 feet, 5 inches tall. The giant baby died 11 hours later.
The biggest baby born to a "healthy mother" was born in Italy in 1955 and weighed 22 pounds, 8 ounces.
