Rise of the sumo baby: Number of children born at 11lb or more rises 50 per cent amid obesity claims



The number of women giving birth to babies that weigh more than 11lb has soared by 50 per cent over the last four years.

These so-called ‘sumo’ infants can be more costly for the NHS to deliver and can suffer from ailments associated with their size.

The rise in big babies has been put down to the nation’s obesity crisis, because larger mothers often give birth to heavier children.

Record breaker: Baby Niamh Martin weighed 14lb 4oz at birth

Experts warned yesterday of an ‘epidemic of fat mothers’ which is increasing the risk of heavier babies, who are themselves more likely to fall victim to heart disease and stroke.

Last year there were a total of 1,170 mothers who gave birth to a baby that tipped the scales at 11lb or more. Four years ago that figure was 791.

Big babies are generally considered to be a sign that the infant is healthy but an overly large child can be caused by obesity in the mother or an illness.

Last month Elaine Martin, 32, gave birth to Britain’s biggest ever baby girl in Ipswich, with ‘little’ Niamh weighing in at 14lb 4oz.

The rise in the average birth weight of babies since the 1950s is explained mainly by an improvement in diet. The current average is 7lb 8oz for boys and 7lb 4oz for girls.

Heavyweight: The increase in the number of large babies has been put down to the fact that more severely overweight women are now giving birth

But part of the rise in heavier babies is down to the fact that their mothers are heavier too. The latest figures show that almost half of women of child-bearing age in Britain are overweight or obese.

Medics say that bigger babies are at a high risk of shoulder dystocia, where the shoulder gets stuck during the delivery. It is a potentially life-threatening condition, which can compress the umbilical cord or put pressure on the baby’s neck, leaving it dangerously starved of oxygen.

In extreme cases, it is necessary for the obstetrician to break the baby’s collarbone in order to deliver them alive, which runs a high risk of nerve damage.

Experts also warned that babies born large are likely to grow up overweight or obese – increasing the risk of heart disease, stroke and certain forms of cancer.

Tam Fry, from the National Obesity Forum, said: ‘The root cause of this is that mothers are getting bigger themselves.



‘They are eating a lot of not very good food, and as a result babies are getting bigger. So much effort is needed to teach our schoolgirls the absolutely paramount importance of getting into shape when you go into pregnancy, because the likelihood is that you’ll pile the pounds on as you go through.

UK'S HEAVIEST GIRL

Niamh Martin entered the record books as Britain’s heaviest baby girl when she was born weighing 14lb 4oz.

Her parents Elaine, 32, and Sean, 34, admit they are bigger than average, but say they were shocked that their daughter was so big at birth.

Born with a full head of dark hair, Niamh came out of hospital last November wearing clothes meant for babies aged three to six months.

She ended up losing weight after her birth before gradually putting it on again and now weighs a healthy 14lb 11oz at the age of three months.

Mr Martin, of Ipswich, said: ‘We always knew she was going to be big and were told to expect her to be 10lb to 11lb – but it was a real shock that she was so large. I was in the operating theatre and you could see she was enormous.

‘Then when she got weighed, I thought “bloody hell”. Her birth weight was even off the scale for the charts in her personal NHS health record booklet.’

He added: ‘Elaine and I are a bit bigger than average build – but she did not have any cravings during her pregnancy and ate normally.’

The heaviest baby boy in the UK was 15lb 8oz Guy Carr of Barrow, born in 1992. The world’s heaviest recorded surviving baby was a boy weighing 22lb 8oz born in Aversa, Italy, in 1955.

‘One of the real problems with the NHS in my book is that we weigh mothers at eight to 12 weeks and forget about them in terms of weight gain; so we’re surprised when they present for delivery at larger sizes.

‘It’s bad for the mothers, bad for the NHS because of the additional care they require, and bad for the baby.’

Mr Fry warned that larger babies increased the chances of problems during birth.

‘Larger babies increase the likelihood of a Caesarean because the birth canal is not big enough for the baby to pass through,’ he said. ‘Often the mothers have to have C-sections early, so the babies will be small, but they soon start to zoom up.

‘And the problem is that once you start big as a baby, the likelihood is that you’ll continue big as an adult.

‘We now have a situation where a quarter of children are overweight by the age of four.



'These children did not get there overnight. Most of this is down to hereditary reasons – the size of their mothers.’

Dr Sangeeta Agnihotri, a consultant obstetrician from London, said larger babies tend to have more health problems, such as cardiovascular disease.