New mum Shelby Martin has opened up about the brutal delivery of her newborn baby boy, and thought she may die in pregnancy – and says midwives were lost for words
A new-mum who gave birth to a record-breaking baby weighing in at nearly 13lbs says midwives gasped in shock as her new son entered the world.
Shelby Martin and the newborn went viral when she shared an image of herself with a large baby bump – and another of the after shot, with Cassian minutes after he was delivered. Social media users were left wowed by the strength of the parent, with images now been liked more than four million times on TikTok, with 35 million views.
Some joked how the infant is already the size of an adult but she says not everything went right during the brutal delivery, and explained that Cassian had to spend 10 days in ICU. Speaking for the first time since his July arrival, Shelby admitted that she didn’t think she would survive her pregnancy when he kept on growing.
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Speaking about the birth for the first time, she said her hopes of a vaginal delivery were dashed due to the baby’s enormous size, with doctors stressing a C-section was far safer. She doesn’t regret the decision and said the Cassian is doing well three months after his dramatic entrance.
“There was a real risk he could get stuck during delivery and that changed everything,” she told People. “I knew the safest choice was a C-section – and thankfully I had an amazing OBGYN and care team at TriStar Centennial who I trusted completely. We had a heads up that he was going to be big, but I would have never guessed almost 13 pounds.”
Shelby also spoke to Today about the day. “My physical therapist later explained that he was essentially popping my hip joint out of socket,” she went on. “As soon as they pulled him out, everyone in the operating room collectively gasped. They were absolutely shocked at his size.”
To make it even more special Shelby gave birth to her son on her own birthday day and she called him her “greatest gift”. His grandma took to Instagram to say how he needed to stay in hospital following the birth saying that glucose levels can be affected in unusually large babies.
But Cassian is tiny compared to baby Alpha, who arrive in the UK back in 2020. Cherral Mitchell, from Oxford, hit headlines after giving birth to her 14lb 15oz baby, believed to be the third biggest ever delivered in Britain. The tot’s mum said: “Everyone kept laughing when his head came out. My husband Tyson was like ‘oh my God he’s chunky’.”
They both have nothing on Akbar Risuddin, whose name means “The Great” in Arabic, who was delivered by c-section to mum Ani in 2009 in Indonesia weighing 19lbs 3oz. Measuring at two feet long, it’s thought Akbar’s size was due to Ani suffering from gestational diabetes, meaning he consumed a lot of glucose while in the womb.
Speaking to AFP after the birth, Dr Binsar Sitanggang said: “This heavy baby made the surgery really tough, especially the process of taking him out of his mum’s womb. His legs were so big.” Akbar’s huge size meant his weight was closer to that of a one-year-old and was around triple the size of an average newborn.