250kg Russian drops healthy 2kg sprog

Doctors 'surpised' by heavyweight pregnancy

By Lester Haines • Get more from this author

Posted in Biology, 19th May 2009 11:08 GMT

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A 34-year-old Russian woman who tips the scales at 39st 5lb (250kg) has "surprised" doctors by dropping a perfectly healthy 4lb 6oz (2kg) baby boy, the Times reports.

The heavyweight mum, who suffers from a hormonal disorder, is named only as Nonna M by Russian newspaper Tvoi Dhen. Describing the pregnancy as a "shock" after 16 years of trying to conceive, she told the paper: “I didn’t realise at first that I was pregnant. I always felt very uncomfortable because of the disorder, so I didn’t pay any attention to the changes that were happening to me.”

The penny finally dropped when the tobacco company employee lit up a cigarette, which provoked nausea. She said: “I’ve never had such a reaction to cigarette smoke. My friends told me at once that I was probably pregnant.”

Despite doctor's advice that an abortion was advisable due to the health risks associated with her weight, she decided to see the pregnancy through. The birth was finally induced when Ms M started to feel unwell, with Moscow's chief gynaecologist Mark Kurtzer on hand to oversee the happy event.

Irina Osadcheva, deputy head of a Moscow maternity clinic, explained that “as a rule women over 150kg have such severe hormonal irregularities they simply can’t get pregnant”. ®

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