Abu Dhabi/Dubai: The capital city's New Year baby, an Emirati girl, was born at 00:55 am and the last baby born in 2008 was also an Emirati girl, delivered at 23:20 pm.
The first baby remains un-named and weighs 3.25 kilogrammes, which according to the Supervisor in charge, Jill Henry, "is a perfectly normal weight". The last baby of the year was named Shooq.
The first baby's mother is Maryam Msalam Al Khawar, 36, and the father is Ali Suhail.
The mother of the last baby of 2008 is Fatima Abdullah Al Zarouni, 25, who is married to Ebrahim Khouri.
The baby weighed 2.58 kilogrammes, which again is considered an average weight for a baby.
"Both deliveries went well and were perfectly normal," confirmed Henry.
The first baby of 2009 in Dubai was born at 12.02am. The baby boy has been named Hamdan by his parents Julia Jamal and Abdul Rahman. The boy weighed 3.6 kilogrammes.
"This is a great news," said Rahman. "Hamdan is my second baby; the first was a girl. My baby boy and his mother are in good health. I named him after Shaikh Hamdan. I hope the New Year will bring peace to the world and the situation in Gaza gets better."
Julia said she could not find words to describe her happiness. "I am very happy and grateful for having my baby boy in good health. Honestly, I did not pay attention to the timing of the birth, because I was worried about my baby and tired as well. However, now yes, the coincidence is really marvellous. I wish everyone a Happy New Year," she said.
Dubai Hospital witnessed 14 babies born, 11 baby boys and three baby girls, some in the last day of 2008 as well as in the first hours of 2009. Al Wasl Hospital witnessed the first baby boy birth born at 1.14am. Nine babies were born in the New Year and 21 in the last day of 2008.
The baby boy was named Majid Al Deen. His father Basher said, "I have two other sons. It is such a precious gift from God. Thankfully, he was born in a good healthy situation. His mother and I called him Majid Al Deen because this name means the dignity and prosperity.
The baby boy born in the last minutes of 2008 has not yet been named. The baby of Nazia Fatma from India was born at 23.58 pm on December 31. Al Qasimi hospital in Sharjah witnessed 12 births - eight of them girls.
