Amber Cumberland is a 21-year-old first mom who recently gave birth to the second biggest baby ever in the UK. Her belly was so big that doctors thought she had a secret twin! She gave birth to a newborn weighing 5.89 kg/12lb 14oz on April 16, 2021.
Baby Emilia created such a big belly during pregnancy that doctors weren't sure there would be a second baby surprised during labor, reports the Daily Mail. She is believed to be the second biggest girl ever to be born in the UK after the one who broke the 2012 record with a weight of 6.46kg.
Baby Emilia started to gain a lot of weight in the third trimester, reaching the average size of a 36 week baby on the 32 week ultrasound.
Amber's partner and Emilia's father, Scott Joy, 22, spent 42 hours in the parking lot of John Radcliffe Hospital in the space of three days before the birth. He was not allowed to join Amber until she was in full labor due to restrictions imposed by the pandemic COVID-19.
When the young mom was finally provoked almost two weeks late she spent 24 hours in labor until baby Emilia entered the world with an emergency c- section.
"I got to eight centimetres dilated and she couldn't go any further - if she went any further down they wouldn't be able to get her back up and she would've got stuck.
"During the C-section, it took two people to lift her out and one to hold everything back to get her out.
"The whole outfit we brought didn't fit her but luckily we had some spare 0-3 month clothes packed and the hospital staff had to hunt down bigger nappies from paediatrics for us," said the new mom.
Complications for the new mom
Amber's huge pregnancy belly led to many painful complications that meant the new mother couldn't wait to be provoked to give birth. She tried home remedies to get things moving, but nothing worked.
Amber said: 'I was so desperate to get her out I tried everything - I ate half a kilogram of raw pineapple, used essential oils and bath salts, even acupressure - anything I read online that might help.
'The bump was so big I got lots of stretch marks and my skin was so weak from being stretched out that they would bleed if I stood up too quickly."
'My stomach muscles completely split to the point where the doctors could barely distinguish them during the C-section and said they were the worst they’d ever seen.
'I also had awful sciatica and compressed nerves in my hips and legs because of the weight of her and I couldn’t even roll over in bed without Scott to help me,' said Amber.
Just over a week after giving birth, Amber is starting to heal, but expects it to take some time to fully recover from the damage to her body from her difficult pregnancy and childbirth. She is currently on a waiting list for physical therapy sessions that will help heal the muscles in her severely torn stomach.
'I can’t pick Emilia up or breastfeed her because she’s so heavy and there’s no protection for my organs, but I’m slowly getting better, " explained the mom.
"I'm still as uncomfortable as when I was pregnant but I do feel a lot lighter and have no more trapped nerves which I'm very grateful for," she added.
"We're both so overjoyed with our gorgeous little girl."
Do you remember the weight of your children when they were born? Were they big or small babies?
