Meet the First Born Babies of 2023
They are blessings in disguise, but every year around this time, the firstborn babies for the New Year are recognised and showered with gifts from various corporate citizens. This year was no different. In fact, while we have not been able to confirm with all public hospitals, we know that Southern Regional Hospital in Dangriga is reporting three babies born on January first, while the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital had four. We got to meet the newborns and their mothers today. News Five’s Duane Moody reports.
Quincy Leiva
Duane Moody, Reporting
At the K.H.M.H., there were four babies born on January first, ringing in the New Year. Interestingly, they were all boys with the first baby boy born to twenty-four-year-old Abigail Gibson of Belize City at one-thirty p.m. Quincy Leiva weighed in at eight pounds two ounces and is Gibson’s second child.
Abigail Gibson
Abigail Gibson, Mother of Quincy Leiva
“This is the greatest blessing I could have asked for. Never expected him to come January first; his due date was December twenty-seventh, but I guess he wanted to be the star of the year so he waited until January the first to show up. He already has a name. His name is Quincy Leiva; we haven’t quite yet decided on a middle name, but Quincy Leiva.”
For over a decade now, San Cas Group has been supporting New Year babies across the country with starter kits, not only at K.H.M.H. And this year, Marketing Manager Aisha Trapp says that they are continuing with the tradition.
Aisha Trapp
Aisha Trapp, Marketing Manager, San Cas Group
“We couldn’t make this New Year pass without doing this again. This is part of our tradition as a company. In four years, we will be a hundred and no way to celebrate that than to give back to our community that has supported us for over this hundred years. So we just want to continue our tradition by gifting these babies with a starter kit – Huggies diapers, wipes, Kotex for the mom, Ovaltine for breastfeeding. So that is what we have in our packages and we gave all four babies nice package. We have to add as well that we call each public hospital in all the different districts and once they have had the first baby, we give that baby a package as well.”
Today, there were other groups that visited the maternity ward with gifts.
Noriko Gamero
Noriko Gamero, Chair of PR Team, Rotary Club of Belize
“When K.H.M.H. reached out to us to see if we would be interested in kind of getting a gift package for the first mom/baby born for the year, we were delighted. We are all about celebrating the gift of life, which goes hand in hand with our organization.”
Amy Forte
Amy Forte, Unit Manager, Sagicor Life Inc.
“What better way to start the new year but with the celebration of life and at the core, what we do is family protection so celebrating life is definitely one of them. So we wanted to reach out and just to welcome, especially one of the babies is the first boy in his family so definitely cause for celebration.”
Elsie Mae Bermudez, who is also of Belize City, had her second child, Samuel Lino, approximately five hours later. Who would have the third baby for the New Year was a tossup between Osderah Leslie and Dulce Mejia. Both are first-time mothers with separate due dates, but are excited about the new journey with their bundles of joy.
Osderah Leslie
Osderah Leslie, Mother of Ayce Cuellar
“I felt him coming so I know I had to come to the hospital. I had contractions around ten o’clock and then it started around six. I came to the hospital around eleven. It was an experience. I noh think it wah ever happen again right now soon, but it was an amazing experience and I am glad and thankful to experience the journey.”
Dulce Mejia
Dulce Mejia, First-time Mother
“He was actually scheduled for the seventh of January but from the Thursday I was already experiencing contractions and so I knew it was coming soon. So thank God it came on the New Year – new year, new blessings.”
Reporter
“Any name?”
Dulce Mejia
“Not as yet.”
Duane Moody for News Five.
