Big baby of Sumatra
Indonesia's heaviest-ever newborn drew curious crowds on Friday to an Indonesian hospital where the boy named Akbar - or "the Great" in Arabic - came into the world at a national record 8.7 kilograms (19.2 pounds).
Akbar Risuddin was born to a diabetic mother in a 40-minute cesarean delivery that was complicated because of his unusual weight and size, Dr. Binsar Sitanggang told reporters.
"I'm very happy that my baby and his mother are in good health," father Muhammad Hasanuddin said yesterday. "I hope I can afford to feed the baby enough, because he needs more milk than other babies."
Crowds pushed to get a peek of the extraordinary Indonesian boy, who measured nearly 62 centimeters (24 inches) when he was born Monday, at the Abdul Manan hospital in the northern town of Kisaran on the strictly Islamic island of Sumatra.
"This is fantastic," said Dewi Miranti, a mother from a nearby village as she peered through a window with around a hundred others. "This is the biggest baby I have ever seen. He looks very well and is cute."
The baby's extreme weight was the result of excessive glucose from his mother during pregnancy, Dr. Sitanggang said.
"He is greedy and has a strong appetite, nursing almost nonstop," the doctor said.
The boy was the third child of Hasanuddin, 50, and mother Ani, 41, who like many Indonesian goes by a single name. His two "little" brothers weighed 5.3 kilograms (11.6 pounds) and 4.5 kilograms (9.9 pounds) at birth.
