The maternity ward of the Mulhouse and South-Alsace region hospital group (GHRMSA) recorded 3,333 births in 2024, an easy figure to remember which is being maintained, even if it follows the general trend of declining birth rates, estimates Marie- Caroline Eglé, coordinating midwife. The 1is January 2025 saw the arrival of eight more babies, four girls and four boys. They are doing well, just like the mothers. Three of them obtained parental permission to be photographed.
12:24 a.m.: little James is first
The baby in the dark blue hat who sleeps peacefully in his medical cradle, waving his tiny hands above his colorful blanket, will know it in a few years: he is the first newborn of the year 2025 in Mulhouse and even in the Haut-Rhin. He is second in Alsace, preceded by a little friend in Strasbourg at 12:10 a.m. and followed by another at 12:44 a.m. in Colmar. James, 3.025 kg and 48 cm, had been expected for three years by his parents, Mégane Muckensturm, 27 years old, after-school leader, and Jérémy Peter, 24 years old, industrial maintenance technician. This is the first child of the couple who live in Pfastatt.
“The birth was scheduled for 1is January and James arrived on the 1stis January, say, amused, the dad and the mom. We suspected that our Christmas or our New Year was going to be skipped. » They presented themselves at the Mulhouse maternity ward on Monday, December 30 at 6:30 a.m. for a birth which ultimately lasted forty-four hours.
9:20 a.m.: little Emma, in 5e position
Emma, 2.640 kg for 45 cm, occupies 5e position in the order of arrival of babies in Mulhouse, this Wednesday 1is January. She was born at 9:20 a.m., 19 days early. But above all, she is a native of Alsace, which was what her mother from the region, Noémie Munch, 34, a pharmaceutical representative, who lives in Reppe (Territoire de Belfort) with her partner Sylvain Laleau, wanted. Aged 36, from Lens (Pas-de-Calais), he is a technical coordinator for industrial piping.
Emma is their first child. His mother will remember for a long time “this good contraction”, exactly at midnight, in the delivery room, in the middle of the dad's countdown to the start of the new year. We had to wait a few more hours before we got to know each other.
12:04 p.m.: little Izaée, at lunchtime
“Izaée was due to be born on January 14. She arrived on the 1stis. Suddenly, it was a surprise,” says his mother Jessica Fernandes, 36, a securities operator. The mother and her baby rest together in the quiet, dark room. The father, Sariny Kol, 37, is a production agent. The couple, who live in Kingersheim, chose a name with the same sound for their third daughter. Izaée is preceded in her siblings by two sisters: Azélie, aged 11, and Izia, 7 years old.
-The last born arrived at 12:04 p.m. this New Year's Day, weighing 3,550 kg and 50.5 cm. “It was super fast, a dream delivery,” admits the mother.
10:35 p.m.: little Timaël, at the end of the evening
Timaël is the newborn who ended this busy day at the maternity ward of the Women-Mother-Child Hospital in Mulhouse. He was born “three weeks early” on the 1is January at 10:35 p.m., after arriving in his mother's womb on Sunday, December 29. Timaël is the first son of Clara Stoll, 30 years old, a stay-at-home mother, and Anthony Dumont, 28 years old, delivery driver, living in Mulhouse. They are already parents of a 9-year-old daughter, Maëllys, a first name with a diaeresis like that of her little brother.
Like all New Year's Day babies, Timaël, 3.110 kg for 49 cm, is impatiently awaiting the 2nde day of his birth to experience the joys of bathing.
