Doctor say 17-pound baby has health issues

ALEISK , Russia, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- Medical officials report that Russia's heaviest-ever newborn -- a 17.1-pound girl born in Siberia -- has serious health problems.

"The baby is under the special care of the local health department," Galina Kagirova, the region's chief pediatrician, told RIA Novosti Friday.

The baby, named Nadezhda, a Russian word meaning " hope," was born at a maternity clinic in Aleisk Sept. 17 by Caesarean delivery.

Her mother, Tatiana Khalina, 42, said she wasn't surprised at her daughter's birth weight because the first of 11 children weighed more than 11 pounds at birth, and the others "beat the records set by their brothers and sisters," RIA Novosti reported.

The Guinness Book of Records recorded the heaviest baby, weighing 29.23 pounds, was born in Illinois but died several hours after being born due to respiratory problems. The heaviest surviving baby was born in Italy, weighing 22.5 pounds when he was born in 1955.