It is always amazing when a pregnant mother looks like she’s carrying an elephant under her dress, and then emerges from the hospital with such a tiny baby in her arms.
The little fingers and toes ... everything seems so impossibly small. But that’s not the case for all babies.
“Little” Asher Stewardson was born Thursday January 26, 2012 weighing in at nearly 14 pounds and measuring 23 ½ inches long.
Asher, the son of Kendall and Joshua Stewardson, came into the world, amazingly, without the assistance of surgery or even an epidural.
AP News reported that it only took Mrs. Stewardson six hours to give birth to Asher at Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines, Iowa. She did have some prior knowledge of birthing bigger than average babies though.
It was just 15 months ago that she gave birth to Asher’s brother, Judah, who weighed 12 pounds 1 ounce. Officials reported that only 1 percent of all newborns weigh more than 11 pounds at birth.
Most children born in the United States will weigh between 6 pounds and 9 pounds at birth and measure between 19 and 21 inches long. Full-term boys born over 9 pounds 3 ounces and girls over 8 pounds 9 ounces are considered “Large for Gestational Age” (LGA).
The causes for the Stewardson babies being born so large is not known, but there are many reasons babies could be born LGA such as:
• Genetics: If the baby’s parents are large, then it makes sense that the baby will be too.
• Maternal weight gain during pregnancy: The more weight a mother gains during pregnancy, particularly if it is considered excessive, the better a chance the baby will have at being born LGA.
• Maternal or gestational diabetes: Whether the mother has pre-existing diabetes prior to the pregnancy or develops gestational diabetes while pregnant, the baby is more likely to be born large for gestational age. The excess blood sugar in the mother’s blood stream can cause the baby to produce extra insulin which is then stored in fat deposits and contributes to excessive growth.
While thick thighs and roly-poly arms are adorable, there are some real risks for children who are born larger than the normal weight range.
Mothers who have large babies are more likely to have a difficult or prolonged birth experience and have an increased chance for needing a cesarean delivery, which comes with its own risks. There are also substantial risks for those whose excessive weight is caused by maternal diabetes.
The one thing mothers must remember is that birth weight is not a good predictor of the weight a child will be when he or she grows up. Asher and Judah, along with most low and high birth weight children, can go on to be perfectly healthy, normal-sized adults.
However, it is better for the mother and the child if the child’s birth weight falls into the normal weight range if at all possible.
Sources:
Yahoo.com. Web. 30 January 2012. "Nearly 14 pound baby born in Des Moines." http://news.yahoo.com/nearly-14-pound-baby-boy-born-des-moines-141125407.html
Pregnancy-info.net. Web. 30 January 2012. "Birth weight." http://www.pregnancy-info.net/birthweight.html
Reviewed January 31, 2012
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith