A Wellington baby born weighing a whopping 16 pounds (7.39kg) is believed to have set a record for New Zealand.

The boy was born by caesarean section at Wellington Hospital on Monday to a family from Lower Hutt.

He tipped the scale sat 16 pounds, 4 ounces (7.39kg), about double the weight of a typical newborn.

It took three hours for doctors to administer the epidural because the boy was so big his mother had trouble bending over, Fairfax reported.

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"He has a good set of lungs," said the father, whose family has not been identified.

"People are calling him the next Jonah Lomu, but we think he'll be a concert pianist."

Doctors had predicted the boy could weigh close to 14 pounds (6.4kg) but his eventual size surprised everyone.

It is the mother's second boy. Her first child weighed 11.8 pounds (5.4 kg), Fairfax said.

A child born in Hamilton in 2014, weighing 15 pounds, 1 ounce (6.85kg) was believed to be the previous record holder.

The heaviest baby in the world weighed 22 pounds (a little over 10kg) and was born to giantess Anna Bates in 1879, according to the Guinness Book of Records.