'Feels like I have a 3-month-old': Woman gives birth to 5.9 kg boy, 'heaviest' baby at New York hospital

Medical staff described the delivery as uncommon but carefully managed.

A maternity unit in upstate New York has confirmed the heaviest baby ever delivered at its facility after a boy weighing 5.9 kilograms (13 pounds) was born on January 31.

Shawn Jr was delivered at Cayuga Medical Center, part of Cayuga Health, becoming the largest newborn recorded at the Ithaca-based hospital. His weight is close to double that of an average infant.

His parents, Terrica and Shawn, said they had anticipated a bigger-than-average baby but were taken aback by the scale. “We knew he’d be bigger, but we didn’t expect this,” Terrica said.

Terrica, who is already a mother of four, explained that her son has bypassed standard newborn clothing entirely. He is wearing garments and nappies designed for babies aged between three and six months. “It feels like I skipped straight to having a three-month-old,” she said.

Medical staff described the delivery as uncommon but carefully managed. Larger babies can require additional planning and monitoring, though the hospital indicated the birth proceeded safely.

Shortly after the delivery, the hospital shared a photograph on Facebook that attracted widespread attention. The image showed Shawn Jr lying beside another infant born on the same day — a girl named Margot who weighed 1.8 kilograms (approximately 4 pounds). The contrast between the two newborns was striking.

In its post, the hospital noted that one family had welcomed a record-setting 13-pound baby — the biggest in its history — while another celebrated the arrival of Margot, weighing just under four pounds.

Margot’s mother, Chloe, said the juxtaposition made her daughter’s birth even more meaningful. She described the moment as “very sweet”, adding that it underscored how babies enter the world in different sizes and weights. She also expressed thanks to the doctors, nurses and wider maternity team.

Robyn Torgalski, System Director of Maternal and Child Health at Centralus Health, said the two births reflected the range of experiences maternity teams encounter. She said the arrivals were “a beautiful example” of how each newborn and delivery experience is distinct. Whether an infant weighs four pounds or thirteen, she explained, staff are prepared to provide appropriate care to both baby and family. She added that she was proud of the maternity services offered and honoured to support families at such an important time.

Hospital officials reiterated that their teams are trained to care for both very small and very large babies. Some newborns require additional warmth and observation because of low birth weight, while others may need monitoring due to their size. In every case, they said, safety and wellbeing remain the priority.

While Shawn Jr’s birth set a local benchmark, it does not approach the largest baby recorded globally. According to Guinness World Records, the heaviest documented newborn weighed 9.97 kilograms and was born in Italy in 1955. An earlier case from 1879 in Seville, Ohio, recorded a baby weighing 9.98 kilograms and measuring 28 inches in length, although the child survived only 11 hours.