Lothians maternity wards see hundreds of ‘overweight’ babies

HUNDREDS of “overweight” babies have been born in the Lothians in the last decade, new figures have shown.

Of the 537 babies born in the region between 2002 and 2012 who weighed more than 10lbs, the heaviest was 12lbs 8oz.

But the child fell well short of Scotland’s heaviest newborn, who comes from Lanarkshire and weighed 14lb 8oz.

Of the five biggest Lothian babies, weighing from 12lbs 3oz, one was delivered naturally, two by emergency caesarean and two by elective caesarean.

There were at least 6466 infants born across Scotland weighing more than 10lbs in the period.

Timothy Overton, a consultant in fetal medicine, said a mother’s unhealthy diet could cause dangerously overweight babies which could lead to complications.

He said: “There are babies born bigger because they are very well-nourished, but then you have fat babies. I describe this as a baby being fed on a liquid diet of Mars bars, and it is a very serious problem.”