As the calendar rolls over to 2021, new life brings new hope, as the world welcomes babies born on 1 January 2021.

South Africa has welcomed more than 300 babies, with SA’s first New Year’s baby born at Themba Hospital just after midnight. 

Gauteng recorded 225 births – 121 boys and 104 girls. While Mpumalanga recorded 69 births – 37 boys and 32 girls. And  KwaZulu-Natal has welcomed 47 New Year’s babies – 22 boys and 25 girls.

According to UNICEF, an estimated 371,504 babies were born around the world on New Years Day, with Fiji in the Pacific welcoming 2021’s first baby and the United States its last.

As the world ushered in 2021, amidst the 2nd wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, New Year’s celebrations were very different, with many countries around the world introducing stricter lockdown restrictions to curb the spread of the virus.  Festivities, large gatherings and fireworks displays across the globe were cancelled, and many of us saw the new year in with small, intimate celebrations with only our spouses, partners and immediate families.