Health

Woman Gave Birth to 16-Pound Baby Due to This Pregnancy Health Condition

July 3rd 2017

An Indiana woman just gave birth to one big beautiful baby.

Whitney Hallett gave birth to a 16-pound baby on May 1. The 28-year-old said she was pleasantly surprised at the newborn's size, as baby Waylon was placed on the scale more than once to make sure his weight was accurate.

The mom of three has other children, too, but none come close in size to her latest addition to the family.

Giving birth to baby Waylon via c-section, at the time of birth he was already the size of a 6-9 month old and couldn't fit in newborn clothing.

Big baby births are more common than one may think.

Many factors play into a baby’s health and weight – a mom’s diet, weight, prenatal health, race and more. However, in Hallett's case, it was a condition called gestational diabetes that likely resulted in her large-sized baby boy. The health condition puts newborns at risk of being born at a much heavier weight.

Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes that occurs during pregnancy due to her body not breaking down sugar and not making enough insulin. Dr. Tope Fapohunda tells ATTN: that "your placenta eats away at the insulin" and March of Dimes reports that 7 percent of women (7 out of every 100 pregnant women) develop this type of diabetes every year.

This condition can happen to any pregnant women but African-American, Hispanic, Native American, and Asian women are more likely to suffer from it when having a child.

How can I prevent this?

There is no proven way to prevent it but there is good news on what you can do to decrease your chances of getting it when pregnant.

Fapohunda added, “Daily exercise and monitoring your daily blood glucose is a start to reducing your chances of getting this form of diabetes. Take a look at your diet and weight when you are in the beginning stages of pregnancy will help to ease any concern surrounding gestational diabetes so you can keep it under control and have a healthy pregnancy."

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