Normal birth of 6.3kg baby awes medics
Medics at Mt Elgon District Hospital are still marvelling at last Sunday’s normal delivery of a 6.3kg baby at the institution.
Available records indicate that baby Ryan Kimtai could be the heaviest baby born through normal delivery in Kenya.
Last year, a 7-kg Robin van Persie Mango was born to Mervin Mango, but through the Caesarean section.
But Mrs Judith Chesang’s normal, incident-free delivery at 2pm on Sunday has stunned the medical world.
“I lack medical terms to express this miracle,” said Mrs Rael Kangogo, the hospital’s nurse-in-charge.
“This could be spiritual, not medical, since in such cases, a woman should undergo Caesarean section in order to get the infant out alive.”
WORLD RECORD
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Ms Anna Bates, who measured seven feet and 11 inches, holds the record for the biggest baby born alive in a normal way, a 9.98kg infant measuring 71.12 centimetres.
The baby was born in the US in Seville, Ohio, on 19 January 1879, but died 11 hours later.
The Guinness Book further says the heaviest baby born to a healthy mother was a boy weighing 10.2kgs, born to Italian Ms Carmelina Fedele in Aversa, Italy in September, 1955.
At the Mt Elgon Hospital, Mrs Chesang told reporters she was grateful that she went through the delivery without complications, and even joked that her good feeding habits were the reason for her huge bundle of joy.
The hospital’s administrator, Mr Philip Shikuku, said the abnormally heavy delivery could also be attributed to the mother’s relative good health, and was not in any way affected by her mild diabetic condition.
Mr Shikuku was nonetheless thankful that it was not Mrs Chesang’s first delivery.
AVOID COMPLICATIONS
“It could have been disastrous if the baby was the first born,” he said.
The mother initially thought she was carrying twins.
“And that’s why I opted for my first ever clinical check-up and hospital delivery in order to avoid complications associated with the delivery of twins.”
On her feeding, she said: “I just ate simple food but the difference was that I ate large portions to get fully satisfied and maybe that’s what contributed to this.”
Mrs Kangogo encouraged women to give birth in hospitals. She said the hospital had rolled out programmes that include educating midwives, recruiting community health workers, giving gifts to mothers attending clinics and offering free delivery services.
Mrs Chesang and her husband, Mr George Ndiema, are peasants who cultivate maize and vegetables to feed their family and earn some income.
The couple have five other children, the eldest being 10 years old. It was her first hospital birth.