Britain's Biggest Ever Baby

Britain's Biggest Ever Baby

This is Britain's biggest ever baby girl.

Libby Woods weighed in at an eye watering 12lb 8oz - after her mother Gemma gave birth NATURALLY to her.

Like Victoria Beckham, Gemma was desperate for a baby girl after giving birth to three sons.

She'd already given birth to sons Dylan, now eight, Liam, five and Josh, three, and she and her husband Ian were longing for a girl to complete their family.

They were thrilled when Gemma, 28, fell pregnant for the fourth time and a scan showed that she was pregnant with a girl.

But the family didn't reckon on such a spectacularly heavy arrival.

Gemma, an accounts manager, who lives in Wigan with husband Ian, a builder, said: 'None of the doctors and nurses could believe it when she was finally delivered as such a heavy weight.

'We had been warned that she was going to be a big baby and may be 10Ibs, but no-one expected her to weigh nearly 13Ibs.

'I hope Victoria Beckham isn't in for such a shock as I was. Like her, I'd longed for a girl after giving birth to three sons - but I definitely got more than I bargained for.'

The couple had been thrilled when their first son Dylan was born in November 2005, weighing a healthy 8Ib12.

And then when sons Liam arrived at 7Ib12, and Josh at 9Ib5, they were delighted, but Gemma had been desperate for a daughter.

She said: 'Ian's mother had given birth to five boys before she finally had a daughter, so I thought I was going to be following in her footsteps. But I thought we would never have a daughter because I wasn't going to go through giving birth six times.

'We thought we would try for just one more baby, but I was expecting that it was going to be another boy. I never imagined that I would ever fall pregnant with a girl.'

At Gemma's 20 week scan at the Royal Albert and Edward Infirmary in Wigan, doctors delivered the news that the couple had been hoping for. Their fourth baby was going to be a girl.

Gemma said: 'After the hospital scan, I then went for three further scans which I paid for privately, just to check it was definitely a girl. We were just so so excited.'

Gemma's pregnancy bump grew quickly. 'My bump was absolutely huge, much bigger than it had been with any of the boys. I had terrible morning sickness too for months, which I hadn't had with any previous pregnancy either.

'But my bump just kept growing and growing. The last few weeks I couldn't even get up the stairs or into the bath as I was so huge.'

Gemma eventually delivered her daughter in October after a six hour natural labour. When doctors put her on the scales, they discovered she weighed a whopping 12lbs 8oz.

Gemma said: 'I just couldn't believe it when they told me what she weighed, I thought I was hearing things. I knew that she was going to be big, but never this big. All the nurses were talking about it.

'Then they asked me for the clothes that I'd brought in for her, and when I got them out, they just all laughed. They were for babies upto 9Ibs, and they just looked tiny. There was no way that she was ever going to fit into them.

'I had to borrow some vests and babygros from the hospital as I didn't have anything big enough for her. She was in clothes for three to six month old babies straight away, so I had to go and buy a whole new set of clothes for her.'

Libby is now four months old and weighs 19lbs, compared to 13lbs for an average baby of her age.

Gemma added: 'When she was two weeks old we took a photograph of her next to my nephew Thomas who was born three weeks early. He weighed 6Ib13, and she absolutely dwarfed him.

'None of our family and friends could believe it when they knew what weight she had been at birth.'

Libby is now in clothes for nine month old babies, and has an enormous appetite.

Gemma added: 'She's definitely going to be able to stand up for herself, that's for sure, and she'll need to be able to look after herself with three brothers. They won't be messing with her.

'All I can say to Victoria Beckham is to watch out - she might get more than she bargained for, just like I did.'

Andrew Shennan, Professor of Obstetrics at Kings College Hospital in London, and who also represents Tommy's Baby Charity, said: ' I have never heard of a baby girl being born heavier than this. Its extraordinary.'

Libby's birth-weight makes her the heaviest baby girl to have been born in the UK. The heaviest baby ever was born in January 1979 in Ohio, weighing 23lb 12ozs but he sadly died after just 11 hours of life. The heaviest surviving baby was born in Aversa, Italy, in 1955 weighing 22lb 8oz.

Did you have a heavy baby?

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