It’s a New Year, baby
While Kiwis’ New Year celebrations were kicking into top gear yesterday, Christina Harris was focused on delivering one of 2019’s first babies.
Within 59 minutes of the year starting, Harris had carried out her New Year resolution, with the birth of her sixth child.
Jeannora-Lee Mateaki-Harris arrived at 12.59am yesterday at Middlemore Hospital in South Auckland. Her names are derived from her mum’s sisters’ names.
The brown-eyed girl weighed in at a thoroughly bouncing 4.7kg (10 pounds 5 ounces).
She was the heaviest at birth of Harris’ six children, of whom the oldest is a 17-year-old girl.
When asked if she was disappointed to have missed out on New Year celebrations last night, Harris said, “No. I was ready to have my baby. That was my New Year’s resolution.
“My last scan was yesterday. I had my last scan and the scan people said she would be near 11 pounds. I just wanted her out.
“She was late. She was supposed to come on the 27th of December so she’s five days late.”
Harris arrived at Middlemore Hospital on Monday night with partner Christopher Harris. Jean’s birth was straightforward and “very fast — I couldn’t wait for it to be over”.
“The contractions started to get closer about 9.30 and me and my partner came to hospital.”
A 35-year-old early childhood teacher, from Mangere, Christina Harris looked relaxed and contented at hospital with her baby and her own mother, Tekura Rikona. She expected she would be discharged from hospital today.
Jean was not the country’s first baby of the year. The Herald is aware of one born about 12.30am at North Shore Hospital.
Last summer, 102 babies were born on Boxing Day, 98 on Christmas Day and 112 on New Year’s Day.
On average, 165 babies are born per day in New Zealand, given the annual count of around 60,000 live births. The annual number has been trending down since a peak of 64,341 in 2008. The highest number from 1952 to 2017 was in 1961 when there were 65,391 live births, according to data from Statistics New Zealand.
If Jean’s life runs along the average, she can expect to be alive until near the end of the 21st century.