A woman in Australia broke a new record when she gave birth to a 12lb 6oz baby with absolutely no pain relief.
28-year-old Nikki Bell gave birth to her adorably chunky little child at Blacktown Hospital in West Sydney, and I have to say, she’s an absolute hero.
Obviously no child birth experience is an entirely fun one – no matter how much the new mums say it was all worth it.
I’ve never experienced it myself, but if actors on TV can make me grimace at the experience, then there’s no doubt the real-life version is horrifically painful, especially if you opt to have no painkillers.
So all mums are heroes really, but let me just put this in perspective for you; according to Kids Health most babies born between 37 and 40 weeks weigh somewhere between 5lb 8oz and 8lb 13oz.
Nikki’s newborn baby Parker weighed 12lb 6oz. That’s more than double what some healthy newborns weigh, and she just went ahead and pushed him out au naturel.
Nikki really deserves an award or something.
I suppose her saving grace was the fact her labour with Parker only lasted two and a half hours – which is still an awfully long time to be in pain, but considering some labours can last upwards of 15 hours, I think two and a half would be quite manageable.
The bouncing baby boy thankfully popped out without any complications, and Nikki, who was already a mother to daughter Madison, didn’t seem to regret her lack of painkillers.
According to the Mirror, the mum remained sympathetic of all childbirth, saying:
I’m sure all births hurt, whether it’s 1.7kg of 5.7kg — they all hurt.
Blacktown Midwifery Group shared a post praising Nikki to their Facebook page, where they mentioned how Parker’s impressive weight would be remembered way into the future.
The post read:
This gorgeous chunky boy was born on Thursday to one of our MGP Mums, Nikki. He weighed in at a record breaking 5.755kg (12lb 6oz for the old school) and was a natural birth with no complications.
We are happy to report the not so little Parker and Mum Nikki are doing well. Welcome to the world Parker, you’ll be the talk of Blacktown Maternity for a long time to come!
Also a big congratulations to Nikki, Michael and big sister Maddison.
|| NEW RECORD ||This gorgeous chunky boy was born on Thursday to one of our MGP Mums, Nikki. He weighed in at a record…
Posted by Blacktown Midwifery Group on Friday, 2 November 2018
Nikki and baby Parker are now back at the family home, and the Mirror report the proud parents are already thinking about how Parker’s extra pounds might come in useful in later life, suggesting he might grow into a powerful athlete.
Nikki said:
Hopefully he will be a bit of a football player, maybe a front rower, that’ll keep his dad happy.
At least it’d be a good few years before Parker would be wanting to run around playing games with his parents; I think Nikki has earned some recovery time after her impressive childbirth story!
If you have a story you want to tell, send it to [email protected].
Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.