The first baby born in America in 2019 appeared to be a baby boy born in Guam.
Guam, a Western Pacific territory, is part of the United States.
According to the Guam Daily Post, the first baby of the year was born 19 minutes past midnight to mother Desirae Mafnas with her husband Kyle Mafnas by her side.
The baby, weighing in at 6.6 pounds and measuring 17.9 inches, was named Malakai.
Malakai was born at Guam Memorial Hospital and was the couple’s third child.
由 Guam Daily Post 发布于 2018年12月31日周一
The boy was named because he came along right after his mother’s miscarriage.
“We had a miscarriage right before Malakai was conceived. His name stands for ‘godsend,” Kyle Mafnas told the Post.
“We are truly blessed,” he added. “Not a lot of people are fortunate to start off like this with a brand new baby. We are hoping that the next baby that gets delivered on Jan. 1, we can give back.”
Family members were pleased with the birth and, along with friends, showered the couple with gifts valued at approximately $6,600, reported the Pacific Daily News.
Also contributing were the families of the first babies born in 2017 and 2018 through the Archway Inc. organization. Gifts included a car seat, $1,000 in cash, and gift baskets.
Desirae Mafnas told the outlet that her due date was Jan. 19 but the baby came early. It was not an easy birth, she added.
“My other kids came a lot faster,” she said. “I came in around 11 a.m., so this was my longest labor … and most painful too. He came out safe and that’s all that matters. He’s a very calm baby.”
The boy’s father is a federal firefighter at Naval Base Guam and the mother works as a grief recovery specialist and writes columns for the Daily News. The family resides in the village of Santa Rita. Both parents are 25 years old.
New Year's baby Malakai Mafnas: "God sends" family joy after loss. Read more at: https://t.co/u5GX0oOgXp
— Guam PDN (@GuamPDN) January 1, 2019
Births in the United States
Approximately 3.86 million births took place in 2017 in the United States, according to a report (pdf) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published in November 2018.
Data was gleaned from birth certificates. That number was down 2 percent from 2016. Birth rates declined for women 39 or younger but increased for older women.
The birth rate for women in their 20s continued to drop, a trend that started in 2006, and hit a record low for 20- to 24-year-olds, at 71.0 births per 1,000 women. The rate for women aged 30 to 34 had been increasing in recent years but declined two percent from 2016 to 2017, the first decline since 2010.
The birth rate for women aged 35 to 39 also declined by one percent, the first decline since 2010. But the birth rate for women aged 40 to 44 was up to 11.6 births per 1,000 women, a two percent increase since 2016, and continuing a trend since 1985.
Women aged 45 to 49 saw a birth rate of 0.9 births per 1,000 women, a figure unchanged from 2016, but the number of births to women aged 45 and over rose three percent from 2016 to 2017. There were 840 births to women 50 or older, essentially unchanged since the previous year, although the number has been increasing since 1997.