A newborn is thought to be Britain’s largest home birth baby – weighing nearly 13lbs.
Mum-of-three Ruth Harvey, 36, welcomed ‘chunky monkey’ newborn Tabitha, on February 28.
Tabitha was born two-and-a-half weeks late and weighed a whopping 12lbs 9oz when she was delivered at home – despite living 10 minutes from a hospital. She is already wearing clothes for babies aged three to six months.
Since giving birth, Ruth has checked the Guinness Book of World Records to find out what the record birth weight is: Guy Carr who weighed 15lb 8oz at his birth in 1992, followed by George King who tipped the scales at 15lb 7oz in 2013.
Ruth had Tabitha in a birthing pool at home in Dundonald, Ayrshire, with partner Eddie Gillan, 44. They decked out the room with fairy lights too. Since being born, Tabitha has only spent one hour in hospital.
Video: Scottish mum gives birth to huge baby girl weighing just shy of 13lbs
Eddie and a team of midwives encouraged Ruth during an eight-and-a-half hour labour while their other children were upstairs. Ruth, who works as assistant service manager of a family support service, said: ‘Tabitha was born two-and-a-half weeks over her due date, she looked well cooked.
‘I think I make big babies anyway. My other two were 9lbs 9oz and 10lbs 1oz. We know the team of midwives haven’t had a baby this big during a home birth. She’s a really big baby, a lot of people have commented but so far nobody has said their baby was bigger.’
During the labour Ruth was given NHS-funded aromatherapy, and had acupuncture during pregnancy. She was able to walk around the front room during labour before getting back in the birthing pool while she had contractions.
Ruth said: ‘It was like Call the Midwife, all the midwives were giving her kisses and cuddles. I gave birth in hospital before and we didn’t see the same person twice but we had a dedicated team of midwives and dealt with the same people the whole time.’
‘You can’t imagine giving birth to a 12lbs baby being an enjoyable experience, but it was.’
She said the midwives were ‘phenomenal’, and that she’s recovered quickly.
Miraculously, Ruth is already doing the school run again for her other children, and even claimed the birth ‘was like being in a spa with aromatherapy oils and a hot pool’.
She added: ‘My daughter made birthing affirmations and Eddie got the room all ready.
‘Ted, my six-year-old son, was asking my parents “Why does mummy sound like a cow?”
‘We had all four kids here and they got to listen to Tabitha’s heartbeat.’
Source: metro.co.uk
