KISARAN, Indonesia - An giant Indonesian newborn has become a tourist attraction, with dozens of people crowding a hospital to see the 8.7 kilogramme (19.2 pound) baby boy, his mother said Friday.

Muhammad Akbar Risuddin, Indonesia's heaviest-ever baby, who is 62 centimetres (24.4 inches) long, was born by Caesarian section this week at a public hospital in North Sumatra.

"I feel very happy. This is God's blessing... My baby brought us fortune," his mother Ani, 41, told AFP. "My baby constantly wants to keep feeding. My milk isn't enough, so we're having to give him bottles too," she said.

"I never imagined I'd deliver such a big baby. I thought I was going to have twins." Doctors have said Muhammad's extraordinary size was likely due his mother's diabetes, which can cause children to receive too much glucose and grow too large during pregnancy.

Ani said carrying the heavy baby, her third, caused her exhaustion and breathing trouble, but both she and child were now in good health.

"When my pregnancy entered the eighth month, all the suffering began. I often cried when I was about to sit down and rest or to get up because it made me stop breathing," she said.

Indonesia's previous heaviest baby, weighing in at 6.9 kilogrammes, was born in 2007 on the outskirts of the capital Jakarta.