It's tempting to think having a gargantuan baby won't happen to you. After all, bringing the average 7.5 pound baby into the world is enough of a messy and terrifying proposition . Nervous mothers who turn to pregnancy forums for reassurance will receive scant consolation. Birth, advises one mother, is like "shitting out a Smeg fridge." "I felt that my butt was gonna explode," opines another. A veteran recommends a narcotics-based birth plan: "TAKE DRUGS! Take everything and anything available."

When faced with the possibility you might have an enormous baby, it's natural to exhibit the kind of avoidance behaviours more commonly exercised in the presence of life insurance salesmen and Jehovah's Witnesses: closing your eyes and hoping the moment passes.

In 2014, Andrea Schrimp, 38, from California gave birth to her daughter Viviane Bliss: an 11 pound, 10 ounce whopper. "She was less painful than my other births," she tells Broadly. "It was actually like a storybook labor. I was having contractions, put my son to bed, had dinner downtown, got into the birthing tub and she was born two hours later."

If pushing a domestic cat out of your asshole sounds like a remarkable feat of tenacity and endurance, spare a thought for the macrosomial Olympians of this world. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the heaviest baby ever to be delivered and survive was born to Carmelina Fedele in Italy in 1955. The boy weighed 22 pounds and eight ounces, which is actually more than this Samsung 43 inch flatscreen TV. More recently, in 2009 an Indonesian woman named only as Ani gave birth to a baby that weighed 19 pounds and two ounces (to the relief of all, by cesarean section).

According to the Royal College of Gynecologists, an estimated 11 percent of women come out of childbirth with a macrosomic baby, or a baby that weighs eight pounds and twelve ounces—or more. If that sounds like a stretch, consider the further 1.5 percent of women who deliver babies weighing over ten pounds. Those who deliver the latter (the weight of an average house cat or a medium sized bowling ball) are worthy of our respect, and sutures.

"She came out with her head and fists together, so that was a huge chunk of baby-sized head and fist to get out. In the final push, I broke my tailbone. The midwife congratulated me on giving birth to the average-sized three month old." I ask about her post-birth situation. "Minor tearing, no stitches required. I pulled all my muscles from my waist down, though."

Dr Daghni Rajasingam of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists explains that there are several explanations for high birth weight. "The biggest factor which increases the risk of having a large baby is gestational diabetes or pre-existing diabetes. Other risk factors include obesity, weight gain during pregnancy or in between pregnancies. Having a very large baby can put both mother and baby at greater risk of complications during labor and increase the likelihood of having a cesarean section or instrumental delivery."

Unless you've got a history of huge babies in your family or you've been diagnosed with gestational diabetes, it's hard to determine exactly how big your baby will be pre-birth. "Unless the midwife who's palpitating the abdomen has a long history with that patient and knows what they're feeling for, it can be very difficult [to tell]," says Michelle Lyne from the Royal College of Midwives. "If we suspect a larger baby we might refer women for an ultrasound scan which can do an estimated fetal weight, but even that can be unreliable."

I honestly felt that it was by God's grace we were both alive.

Annabel*, 27, from New Jersey is currently pregnant with her third child, but is terrified about the prospect of having an extremely large baby. "I had antepartum depression through my last pregnancy and my OB/GYN was negligent from the beginning." Annabel also had a history of diabetes that she says wasn't diagnosed until the 32nd week of her pregnancy. "At this point my OB/GYN shouted at me for not controlling my diabetes better and told me I was going to have a ten pound baby."

After being induced two weeks early, Annabel delivered her child. "She was on track to be nine pounds, eight ounces, and had shoulder dystocia [in which birth is delayed due to baby's shoulder getting stuck behind the mother's pubic bone] during birth." The birth itself was traumatic. "I felt terrified and helpless. After, I felt overwhelmed, isolated, and abandoned. I honestly felt that it was by God's grace we were both alive. I broke my tailbone delivering and I have pain during intercourse and numbness which affects my ability to empty my bladder and know when I need to urinate."

Read more: Women Describe Their Orgasmic Births

Annabel is now terrified about the prospect of delivering an even bigger baby. "I'd say my fear of having a large baby is about an eight out of ten. I feel like I'm getting all the support available now, having switched healthcare provider. But I'm still afraid. I often feel like it was a mistake to get pregnant again, despite the fact my husband and I wanted another child."