Life at the country’s hospital maternity wings doesn’t stop for Christmas. Christmas Day was just another day in a busy year for many hospital workers, but for parents of a Christmas baby the day will remain special for the rest of their lives.
Baby Liam is a Christmas baby. He’s the first Christmas baby at the AZ Rivierenland Hospital in Bornem (Antwerp) in three years and was followed by a second baby at the hospital later in the day.
Liam was born at 8AM. 663 babies were born at the hospital so far this year.
Christmas babies were born the length and breadth of Flanders yesterday: in Antwerp, Leuven, Ghent, Ostend, Kortrijk, Ieper and Waregem.
At the East Limburg hospital in Genk a first Christmas baby arrived at 4:30 AM. Girls are clearly early birds because a second girl was born only half an hour later. Two more babies of undisclosed gender were born at the hospital later in the day.
At AZ Maria Middelares a first Christmas baby arrived shortly after midnight: Emiel, a boy. A second boy, Jesse, was born at 4:30 AM with a third Christmas baby being born at this hospital in the evening. 1,903 babies have been born here this year.
Still in Ghent, at the University Hospital it was a longer wait. Two babies were born, but only arrived in early evening. So far this year 1,500 babies have been born at the hospital.