Maternity Hospital Had No Heating in -40°C: Chelyabinsk New Year Birth Stories
Is being born on December 31 or January 1 a gift?
On the night of January 1, 14 babies were born in the Chelyabinsk region, with the first one being a girl in Miass. We asked readers to share stories about giving birth on New Year«s, and there were quite a few such stories.
«A similar thing happened to my mom. She gave birth to me on January 1,» shared Mari. «We lived in a village, and in her ninth month of pregnancy, she was fetching water from a column. But then I suddenly decided to come into the world. Back then, they didn»t keep you in the hospital long (it was 1997), and the next day they sent us home. The maternity hospital wasn«t heated, and it was -40 degrees Celsius (-40°F) outside. Fun!»
Marina also had an extreme birth story.
«The due date was set for January 25, but mom took a bath in the banya (Russian bathhouse), and it started,» the reader said. «Dad was working on the railway at the time; he stops the first train — a freight train, shoves mom into the locomotive, and they go to the nearest town. They arrived at 10 p.m., no one was there, everyone was already celebrating New Year»s. A 25-year-old intern delivered the baby himself.«
But for a friend of our subscriber Tatyana, the birth was, on the contrary, late.
«They set my friend»s due date for December 25, 2006, her belly was huge. She was talking to it, saying enough is enough, come out already, she«s tired,» the reader shared. «The doctor said to come when it»s urgent, or for hospitalization on January 3. The snow was knee-deep then, she and her husband walked on foot to visit us and celebrate the holiday. They stayed until 4 a.m., celebrated, danced, and in the morning she says: «Let»s go to the maternity hospital.« We all saw her off together, and by evening a boy was born.»
Our reader Olga«s son Misha just turned 17 the day before.
«He really wanted to be born right on New Year»s! He did it on 01.01.2009,« the subscriber said. »The entry in the birth certificate was number one. Until about four in the morning, I didn«t believe the contractions had started, until I realized I couldn»t lie down. We all went to the maternity hospital as a family — to check what was going on. Drunk, merry, and dressed up. My son and I stuck around in the maternity hospital for another 10 days.«
It turns out this is a quite common scenario.
«I gave birth to my son on January 1, 2010,» said Yekaterina. «Now my little son is 16 years old. On December 31, we celebrate New Year»s like everyone else, and on the afternoon of January 1, friends come over to my son, and the fun continues. For everyone else, storks bring babies, but for me, it«s Ded Moroz (Father Frost).»
«My friend gave birth on December 31, and early in the morning on January 1, a nephew was born,» shared Yulia.
We have already published five touching stories from mothers whose children were born on New Year«s. And we also asked the birthday people themselves how they celebrate the holidays.
