The baby girl cooing in a hospital in the Pakistani capital was long awaited. Her mother, Ambreen Saddam, 28, had been trying to conceive for four years. She gave birth at 9 a.m., Islamabad time, Jan. 1, 2020. That date made the birth even sweeter, says Saddam.
"It's a very happy time for us," she says, lying beside her tiny, five-pound baby, who was wrapped in a bright pink blanket in a crammed maternity ward at a sprawling health compound in the city.
In some ways, the world is also celebrating with her.
UNICEF, the United Nations children's agency, estimates that some 400,000 babies will be born on New Year's Day — "an auspicious day for childbirth around the world," it said in a press release.
UNICEF says the Pacific island nation of Fiji will most likely have delivered 2020's first baby – and it's expected to have 39 births on Jan. 1. The United States will deliver the last baby of New Year's Day, where women are expected to welcome 10,452 babies into the world.