Heavily pregnant

A 38-stone woman gave birth through caesarian section to a healthy baby in Romania today.

Bucharest University Emergency Hospital said 25-year-old Victoria Lacatus had a girl weighing 6.4 pounds lbs.

A spokesman said the mother was being carefully monitored for post-surgery complications because she is morbidly obese.

Ms Lacatus was transported from her village in southern Romania to Bucharest because the local city hospital did not have any beds that could bear her weight.

"The baby is the fruit of the love between me and my future husband who is slimmer, weighing just 70 kilogrammes (11 stones)," said Ms Lacatus. "I wanted this child with all my heart, whatever the sacrifice."

She said she will soon marry her 36-year-old fiance, Costica Lacatus.

Florin Costandache, who helped perform the operation, said: "It was a real challenge because she needed four times the anesthetic a normal person needs."

The chief surgeon, obstetrician Valeriu Horhoianu, said at least 10 obese women have given birth at the Bucharest hospital, but they all weighed less than her.