Eight new babies on New Year’s Day
Dedicated maternity teams at NT Health welcomed eight new babies to the Northern Territory on New Year’s Day!
This included three babies delivered at Alice Springs Hospital, three babies at Royal Darwin Hospital, one baby at Katherine District Hospital and one baby at Gove District Hospital, Nhulunbuy.
The NT saw its first baby born in 2024 at the Alice Springs Hospital (ASH) in Central Australia, just after midnight at 00:26am ACST.
Delivery of the boy, weighing 4140 grams, was supported by the ASH team, including midwives, doctors, obstetricians, ward clerks, orderlies, social workers, pathologists, sonographers and environmental services staff.
NT Health Midwifery Education Research Coordinator Jane Napier said the New Year period from January to February is the busiest time of the year for the maternity ward at ASH, with the highest birth rate recorded in these months.
“The team at Alice Springs Hospital works around the clock to ensure 24-hour maternity services over the New Year period,” Mrs Napier said.
“It’s a busy time that highlights the commitment and passion of our staff, who pull together with a happy disposition and work hard as a cohesive team to provide kind, safe and responsive care for our women, babies and families.
“Many of our staff work overtime and take on extra shifts to cover the festive period, when both staff and patients are away from their families, with many women giving birth hundreds of kilometres away from their country,” she said.
The ASH maternity team delivers services to women across a million square kilometres of central desert country.
This vast area stretches north to Elliott in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, east to Lake Nash near the Queensland border, south to Oodnadatta, SA, and west to Kiwirrkurra, WA.
Testifying to the high-quality services provided by the ASH team is First Nations woman from Tennant Creek, Natalia Foster, 29, who birthed her first baby on New Year’s Day at ASH.
Ms Foster praised hospital staff for the delivery of her baby girl, Elzina Ellis, who was born around 3pm on 1 January 2024.
“I’m very happy with the delivery of my baby at Alice Springs Hospital,” Ms Foster said.
The newborn girl shares a New Year’s Day birthday with Ms Foster’s grandmother, father and brother-in-law.
“She’s a birthday present for them,” Ms Foster said.
