Female Weightlifter Unaware of Pregnancy Gives Birth in Gym

Elizabeth Poblete, a 22-year-old weightlifter from Chile who competed at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, has given birth during a training session in Brazil, having been oblivious of the fact that she was pregnant.

Ms Poblete was training at a gym in Brazil's largest city Sao Paolo on December 8, her home is now in what is the largest country in South America, when she began to feel unwell. Unaware that she was expecting a baby Ms Poblete, understandably shocked at discovering her condition, proceeded to give birth to a son United Press International says she has called Eric Joseph, although another report calls the young boy Eric Jose. According to the BBC Eric Joseph, born three months premature, weighed in at 2.25lbs (1.2kg) and measured 14 inches (34cm). After the birth mother and son were taken to a hospital in Sao Paolo where the week-old baby boy remains in intensive care, reportedly on a ventilator. However the boy's mother, there are no indications in the reports about Eric Joseph's birth as to who his father might be, has subsequently discharged herself from the hospital, reports AOL, or been discharged by the hospital, notes the BBC and United Press International, because she cannot afford to pay for any further treatment. The hospital, which has not been named, has denied that it discharged Ms Poblete, 12th in the 75kg category at the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in the Chinese capital, due to her inability to pay for continuing treatment. Horacio Reis is the head weight trainer at the gym where the young Chilean woman brought her son in to the world and he is quoted by the Telegraph as saying:

It was a surprise for me. A week ago I acted as a judge in a competition in Chile and this girl was competing. All went well and she won the competition. I could see she was a big girl, round and strong. That's all I noticed

Dr. Valdemir Resende, it is not clear if he is a doctor at the hospital which cared for Ms Poblete and is still caring for her son, told the O Globo website that the mother of just one week may not have known she was pregnant due to the masking effects of endorphins. Another explanation given by the Telegraph is that the diet and training routine typically followed by a female weightlifter can lead to "irregular menstruation". Ms Poblete, seemingly the only female weightlifter from Chile to compete in Beijing, was apparently hoping to move up from the 75kg category to the 85kg category.