US woman gives birth to twin sons weighing 10 pounds each

Washington, July 10 (ANI): A Cincinnati woman has given birth to twin sons, who weigh around 10 pounds each.

Tamara Kankowski delivered Lucas, who weighed 10 pounds, 2 ounces and Dillon, who weighed 9 pounds, 9 ounces, by Caesarean section at Bethesda North Hospital in Cincinnati.

Dr. Manny Alvarez, senior managing editor of FoxNewsHealth.com, who specializes in high-risk pregnancies, said their weight was far higher than the average weight of 6-and-a-half pounds to 7 pounds.

The newborn twins just fell short of setting the world record for the combined weight of newborn twins, which had been set a few years ago in Britain at 23 pounds and 12 ounces.

"This is extremely rare and just by definition - even for a single baby as far as weight - 10 pounds would still be classified large for gestational age and considered above the 90th percentile," Fox News quoted Alvarez as saying.

And while it's not known if Kankowski suffered from gestational diabetes, which is a type of diabetes that occurs only during pregnancy, Alvarez said it could be a possibility.

"Many times the increased amount of weight on babies could be due to excessive exposure to glucose (sugar), which can cause the baby to grow very large," he explained.

"Other possible reasons are just the fact that some babies are just born that way due to a family history of large babies.

"I've delivered 8-pound twins in my practice - but 10-pound twins - that's almost unheard of," he added. (ANI)