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Giant baby draws spectators to Indonesian hospital

Ani smiles while touching her newborn baby boy, who was born weighing 8.7-kilograms (19.2-pounds), at a hospital in Kisaran, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009. The Indonesian woman gave birth to the 62-centimeter (24.4 inches) long unnamed baby boy by caesarean section on Sept. 21. He is the heaviest newborn ever recorded in the country, a doctor said. (AP Photo/Andi Anshari)

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Akbar Risuddin, a four-day-old baby boy, weighing 8.7-kilograms (19.2-pounds), foreground, lies next to standard size newborn babies at a hospital in Kisaran, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Friday, Sept. 25, 2009. Indonesia's heaviest-ever newborn drew curious crowds Friday to the Indonesian hospital where the boy named Akbar _ or the Great in Arabic _ came into the world at his unusual weight and size. (AP Photo/Andi Anshari)

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By DENNY SITOHAN, The Associated Press Updated 9:21 PM Friday, September 25, 2009

KISARAN, Indonesia — Indonesia's heaviest-ever newborn drew curious crowds Friday to a hospital where the boy named Akbar — or the Great in Arabic — came into the world at a record 19.2 pounds (8.7 kilograms).

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 said.

"I'm very happy that my baby and his mother are in good health," father Muhammad Hasanuddin said Friday. "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 boy, who measured nearly 24 inches (62 centimeters) when he was born Monday, at the Abdul Manan hospital in the northern town of Kisaran on the island of Sumatra.

"This is fantastic," Dewi Miranti, a mother from a nearby village, said as she peered through a window with about a hundred other people. "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 Indonesians goes by a single name. His two "little" brothers weighed 11.6 pounds (5.3 kilograms) and 9.9 pounds (4.5 kilograms) at birth.

The former Indonesian record holder was a 14.7-pound (6.7-kilogram) baby boy born on the outskirts of the capital, Jakarta, in 2007.

Guinness World Records cites the heaviest baby as being born in the U.S. in 1879, weighing 23.75 pounds (10.4 kilograms). However, it died 11 hours after birth. The book also cites 22.5-pound (10.2-kilogram) babies born in Italy in 1955 and in South Africa in 1982.

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Associated Press writer Niniek Karmini contributed to this report from Jakarta.

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September 26, 2009 01:19 AM EDT

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