World Record Mum: The Woman Who Gave Birth To The Heaviest Baby In History

Anna Bates is famed for giving birth to not only the heaviest, but longest, baby ever, and her story is both intriguing and heartbreaking.

A giantess, the Canadian woman was born to average sized parents, but went on to become one of the world’s tallest women. She worked with P.T. Barnum, almost dying in a fire in his museum, and gave birth to the largest baby in history … only to lose him just days later.

Anna was born in Canada in 1846, the third of 13 children – weighing 16 pounds (7.26kg). All of her siblings were average in height, but Anna grew much quicker than her brothers and sisters. At just four-years-old she was already 4ft 6in (137cm) and weighed more than 40kg.

Untitled design - 2023-07-26T132734.349 — *By Unknown photographer – Houghton Library, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=65952112*

Here’s a look at her growth rate as a child:

Six-years-old: 5ft 2in (157.48 centimetres)
10 years-old: 6ft 1in (185 cm) tall, 203 pounds (93.07 kg).
12 years-old: 6ft 5.25in (196.22 cm).
15 years-old: 7ft (210 cm) tall.

By the time she was 18, Anna had reached her full height of 7 feet 11 inches (2.41 m). By all accounts Anna was very smart, with interests including music, theatre and literature.

When she was just 17-years-old Anna began working for P.T. Barnum, living in Barnum’s American Museum in New York City. And it was here that her story almost ended, In 1865, she almost lost her life when the museum was destroyed by fire. She was too large to flee using the windows, but after getting help she managed to escape.

Untitled design - 2023-07-26T132828.534 — *By Unknown author – Imgur https://imgur.com/t/the_more_you_know/Zk7ubYa, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=113764106*

It was during her tours around the United States that Anna met her future husband, Martin Van Buren Bates, known as the Kentucky Giant. He was also an exceptionally tall person, and their marriage was a huge drawcard.

The couple eventually built a mansion, which included high doorways and ceilings to accomodate their tall frames. And eventually they went on to have children.

Untitled design (99) — By https://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/obf_images/24/bd/5ca37494f17058b3121771640fa0.jpgGallery: https://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/image/V0007376.htmlWellcome Collection gallery (2018-04-05): https://wellcomecollection.org/works/vabbg6mx CC-BY-4.0, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36431425

Their first child, a daughter, was born in 1972 and weighed 18 pounds (8.16kg), but she tragically died at birth.

In 1879 Anna gave birth to a baby boy, named Babe, who broke all baby birth weight and length records. He was (and still is) the largest newborn ever born, weighing 23 pounds 9 ounces (10.7 kg) and nearly 30 inches in length (75 cm). But he survived just 11 hours, before passing away.

The couple continued touring before they settled on a farm. Anna died suddenly from heart failure in her sleep in 1888, just a day before she turned 42. The reason for her extraordinary height was never discovered.

Since the birth of Babe, there have been some very large babies born around the world, including a baby in England weighing 15lb 8oz (7kg), an Arizona baby weighing 6.3kg or 14 pounds and a Victorian baby weighing more than 12 pounds.

How big were your babies when they were born? Let us know in the comments below.

41 Comments

- - rovermum said
  - 27 Jul 2023
    9:47 am
Oh my goodness. I cannot imagine. I delivered a 4.08kg baby and I know what that was like. So to have such large babies, wow. The pressure that must have put on her body.

- - shocolatmoose said
  - 27 Jul 2023
    9:31 am
Interesting history.

- - cassy26 said
  - 27 Jul 2023
    9:30 am
Oh wow, and I thought my almost 4 kilo babies were big….. :/

- - MandaMags said
  - 27 Jul 2023
    8:33 am
Wow what a story, so tall.
My first was 2.45kg 47cm
2nd was 3.3kg 49cm
3rd was 3.1kd 48cm

- - Julzie13 said
  - 27 Jul 2023
    8:30 am
So sad that both her children died in infancy, looking back through history it is apparent that many babies did not make it past infancy or childhood – hence such big families to continue their family tree lines and to have some children make it to adulthood.
My son was bigger than the average size, and at 14 he is 6’3 and not slowing down.

- - Ellen said
  - 27 Jul 2023
    7:50 am
My first was 10 wks early height 30com, weight 880gm
My second was 42cm and weighing 3.1 kg
My two adoptive children were both 2.5 kg

- - Ellen said
  - 27 Jul 2023
    7:48 am
A sad story indeed, but I’m happy to read she found her spouse and in general seemed to have a fulfilling life.

- - TraceyGail said
  - 27 Jul 2023
    7:22 am
A very sad story. It would have been so much worse living in those times too and being on show at Barnums. Losing the babies too after everything would be awful.
- mom93821 replied
  
  28 Jul 2023 , 4:51 am
  It was a tougher time and particularly for women.
- - mom93821 said
  - 27 Jul 2023
    4:47 am
Incredibly sad to lose two children.
- Ellen replied
  
  28 Jul 2023 , 7:43 am
  Yes, I wonder how the outcome would be would she have lived in this time and age
- - ~Loui~ said
  - 27 Jul 2023
    12:55 am
This is a sad story. Extreme height is often due to a tumour in or near the pituitary gland. There are a host of medical conditions associated too.

- - mom491361 said
  - 27 Jul 2023
    12:28 am
Wow amazing read. I can’t even image that size baby as my little ones were tiny with the biggest 7lb 10oz.

- - Forgetful Mumma said
  - 26 Jul 2023
    10:10 pm
That’s a fascinating, albeit sad story! I’d love to discover what happened to her husband.
My babies were:
3.75kg
4.04kg
4.5kg
3.5kg (probably would have been bigger if I didn’t have GD – was my only GD baby)

- - mom265671 said
  - 26 Jul 2023
    9:52 pm
Wow! Now thzts an incredible story

- - Shazza said
  - 26 Jul 2023
    9:29 pm
My son was 7 pounds 4 & my daughter was 6 pounds 8. So very little compared to those weights! Ouch!

- - cherz said
  - 26 Jul 2023
    8:29 pm
Shouldn’t her daughter’s birth be 1872 not 1972.

- - Frankiielot said
  - 26 Jul 2023
    7:41 pm
Very sad both kids died so young. My friend’s baby was born quite bigger than my two bubs! She was already wearing an 18 to 24 months jumpsuit when she was 4 months old!!!

- - BellaB said
  - 26 Jul 2023
    6:43 pm
How sad to lose not just one, but two babies.

- - happeningsofus said
  - 26 Jul 2023
    4:32 pm
My largest was 10lbs 5oz (4.5kg). I could never in my live imagine giving birth to a 10kg baby.

- - mom486197 said
  - 26 Jul 2023
    1:44 pm
Wow I had no idea about this. What a fascinating article to read.