The first baby born in British Columbia came into 2019 at exactly 12:01 a.m., and was born at Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster.
Baby Dominik Soswa was born to Janet Shimizu and Lukasz Soswa just as fireworks lit up the skies.
The eight pound and three ounce baby arrived via caesarean section.
Mom Janet says the family is healthy and happy.
Shimizu says she thought Dominik would arrive on Dec. 31 but her labour stopped and doctors decided that it would be best for her to have a caesarean section.
This is the couple’s first baby.
“We’re feeling very tired but we’re feeling very, very good,” she said.
The new mother said she wants her son to just be himself and happy.
“My partner wants him to be a surgeon,” she said, with a laugh, adding that Soswa is an orthopedic surgeon out of Langley.
For now the family wants to rest and catch up on sleep.
Elsewhere, the first child born on Vancouver Island arrived at 12:42 a.m. at Victoria General Hospital. The baby’s name is Maverick and felt the “need for speed,” arriving eight days early.
The boy weighed 7 lbs 12 oz and the family is from the Cowichan Valley.
In the Okanagan, baby Hugo entered the world at 1:58 a.m. at Kelowna General Hospital, weighing 8 pounds 11 ounces.
Francine, a stay at home mom, said she started to go into labour at around 11:45 p.m. Dec. 31 2018, and the whole thing went very fast.
“I was the last (labouring mother) to come in last night, and I won the race,” she said, estimating that there were three others who were having babies at the same time.
READ MORE: First 2019 baby in B.C. Interior named Hugo
Across the country, an estimated 999 babies will be born today in Canada, with approximately 350,000 babies to be born in 2019.
Globally, over half of the New Year’s Day births are estimated to take place in eight counties, according to UNICEF with a quarter of all births to take place in South Asia alone.
- India — 69,944
- China — 44,940
- Nigeria — 25,685
- Pakistan — 15,112
- Indonesia — 13,256
- The United States — 11,086
- The Democratic Republic of Congo — 10,053
- Bangladesh — 8,428
– With files from the Canadian Press
