In the UK, a mother delivered a 12lbs baby naturally and said that it was a calm experience.
Ayshah Maton, 34, from Ashendon, Buckinghamshire gave birth to her first daughter, Eloise on her living room floor at home, using only gas and air as pain relief.
Eloise was born on March 12 weighing 12lbs 0.5oz. She is believed to be the second biggest baby girl born naturally in the UK.
Ayshah is also a mother to sons Ethan, 7, Hugo, 5, and a three-year-old Cooper.
The mother-of-four was joined by her husband Gari, two midwives, and a birthing coach as she welcomed her newborn daughter.
The average weight for babies is usually between 7-8lbs, suggesting that Ayshah’s daughter, Eloise was almost double the national average. But despite her baby’s weight, Ayshah claims that the birthing experience was a calm one and she described it as “amazing”.
“It was an amazing birth,” the brave mom said. “It was a really positive experience. I think maybe it was because I knew what to expect because she was my fourth.”
“But it was my first home birth, and it was such a different experience,” she continued. “It was so much more relaxed when you’re in a safe, familiar environment, rather than in a hospital. It’s so much nicer birthing at home, because afterward you can just have your own food, and go and tuck yourself up in your own bed.”
She says she knew Eloise was going to be a big baby, as her second and third sons weighed 11lbs 2oz and 11lbs 3oz when they were born.
Ayshah measures five foot seven inches tall, whilst her husband Gari is just under six feet.
And while Eloise’s weight was a bit of a shock as she hit just over the 12lbs mark (12lbs 0.5oz), Ayshah revealed that she “wasn’t worried” about giving birth naturally and delivering her at home.
“I don’t know how, but we just seem to produce big babies,” she jokingly said. “I was expecting her to weigh in at around the 11lb mark – but she did surprise us a bit when she turned out to be the biggest baby.”
“I wasn’t really worried about delivering her at home though,” she added. “I always knew I wanted to give birth naturally, and whatever size she was going to be wasn’t going to be any different if I was at the hospital or at home.”
She has gone into labor at 2 AM on Friday, March 12, and spent most of her labor in the birthing pool but ended up giving birth to Eloise on the floor in her living room at 12:14 PM.
Dropping any pain relief and relying on gas and air to help her through her labor, Ayshah said she much preferred giving birth at home than in hospital, as she had done with her three sons.
She experienced her shortest labor with Eloise, despite her little girl being the biggest baby of her family.
“By the end of the weekend, I was up and about again and almost back to normal, just a little bit achy,” she added. “It’s really amazing what the human body is capable of.”
Now a happy three-month-old, little Eloise is wearing three to six-month-old clothing and blossoming.
It is believed that Eloise is one of the biggest baby girls born naturally in the UK, record-breaker Suzie Gzowski tipped the scales at 12lbs 12oz in January 2012.