The city’s first baby of 2018 was delivered at a Flushing hospital moments after midnight.
Baby Kazi Ariana Shirin was born at the Flushing Hospital Medical Center at 12:01 a.m. to first-time mom and Jamaica resident Tania Shirin, a 25-year-old Bangladeshi immigrant, according to the New York Daily News. Both the baby and mother are well, officials at the hospital said.
Flushing Hospital posted a photo of the baby and new mom to its Twitter account.
Father Imran Nazir, 28, told the Daily News that the birth was “a big celebration,” with doctors and nurses stopping by to cheer on and congratulate the happy couple.
According to UNICEF, more than 11,000 babies were expected to be born in the United States on New Year’s Day, accounting for around 3 percent of all births globally that day. Babies born in the U.S. this year have an estimated life expectancy of 80 years.
Next month, the organization will launch the “Every Child Alive” campaign, which will begin efforts to reduce instances of preventable newborn deaths worldwide.
Flushing Hospital, located at 45-00 Parsons Blvd., has offered primary and specialty health care services to Queens residents since 1884.
