‘My sweet 7kg shock’

POLOKWANE – The miracle of birth was made even more amazing when a baby weighing a Limpopo record-making 6,680kg was born at the Mankweng Hospital on Thursday.

The baby, named Blessing Hlongwane, was delivered by caesarian section, weighing an astounding 6,680kg and measuring 47cm at birth. His birth not only made his mother, Treasure Hlongwane (36) from Phalaborwa, but also the department of health very proud. The birth set a record in Limpopo.

Blessing’s mother has four other children, none of whom weighed nearly as much. She said her other babies had all weighed between 4kg and 5kg, adding that she and her husband had expected twins, as scans could not give accurate details. “There were no problems during the pregnancy and I am still recovering from this sweet shock as I did not expect a baby this size! I am overjoyed and very proud,” she said.

Allen Kwanang Maile, Blessing’s father, said he was the happiest man in the world because Blessing was his first son. “Neither me nor my wife are very big people but it seems that as all my children are born quite big, that we have the genetics to make big babies, even though Blessing took all of us by surprise,” he said.

Dr Rienk Baarsma, who delivered Blessing, said in his 36 years of medical practise, he had never seen such a special baby.

Evelyn Kgatla, a midwife with 15 years’ experience, was equally impressed and said Blessing was among the five biggest babies born in South Africa. According to the Guinness World Records, the largest baby ever born in South Africa, was born in 2007 and weighed 7,3kg.

Gyneacologist, Dr Kobus van Heerden, said he would recommend that Hlongwane went for tests to establish whether she was suffering from gestational diabetes, which could be the reason why Blessing was so big.

He said Blessing would not need any special diet because of his size. The only difference between him and other children of his age was that he would have a weight advantage on other children when reaching the different developmental milestones.

Both baby and mother were doing well as patients of the Mankweng Hospital and were due to go home later this week.