Maximum Number of Children Born in India on New Year’s Day

A 3.5kg newborn, yet to be named, was born almost precisely on the eve of the new year. The baby boy, born to Yasodha Solanki and Arvind Solanki, was birthed at the Government Civil Hospital in Bairagarh in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, India. Photo: UNICEF

Approximately 386,000 babies were born on New Year’s Day, UNICEF said. Of these, over 90 per were born in less developed regions.

Kiribati’s Christmas Island in the Pacific got 2018’s first baby; the United States, its last. Globally, over half of these births are estimated to take place in nine countries:

• India — 69,070

• China — 44,760

• Nigeria — 20,210

• Pakistan — 14,910

• Indonesia — 13,370

• The United States — 11,280

• The Democratic Republic of Congo — 9,400

• Ethiopia — 9,020

• Bangladesh — 8,370

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While many babies will survive, some will not make it past their first day. In 2016, an estimated 2,600 children died within the first 24 hours every day of the year.

For almost 2 million newborns, their first week was also their last. In all, 2.6 million children died before the end of their first month.

Among those children, more than 80 per cent died from preventable and treatable causes such as premature birth, complications during delivery, and infections like sepsis and pneumonia.

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“This New Year, UNICEF’s resolution is to help give every child more than an hour, more than a day, more than a month — more than survival,” said Stefan Peterson, UNICEF’s Chief of Health. “We call on governments and partners to join the fight to save millions of children’s lives by providing proven, low-cost solutions.”

Photo courtesy: UNICEF