Baby boy Yuri and baby girl Zamara came bouncing into the world just as the clock struck midnight, heralding the arrival of the new year at the Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital in Manila.
Sally Alburo delivered Yuri, her second child, while Jenylyn Dalen gave birth to Zamara 10 seconds later.
“(The labor) was so painful, but after giving birth to him, the pain I was feeling was gone, replaced by joy,” Alburo said in Filipino in an interview with ABS-CBN News.
Yuri, despite being born prematurely at seven months old, is healthy, doctors said.
Dalen, for her part, said: “I am so happy. I am speechless. I hope she is healthy growing up.”
According to senior hospital officer Dr. Luis Legaspi, Fabella admitted 25 pregnant women – lower than the usual daily average of 40 to 50 admissions – on December 31.
Latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed the country logged 416,388 births in 2025 as of Sept. 30, continuing a trend of declining live births.
Provisional data pointed to a 6.3 percent drop in live births in 2024 with 1,357,203 babies born compared to 1,448,522 live births in 2023.
PSA said 2024 marked the second consecutive year of decline in live births in the country after a brief rebound in 2022, which saw the first rise in births since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Calabarzon accounted for the largest share of births in 2024 with 205,212 or 15.1 percent of the national total, followed by the National Capital Region at 152,506 or 11.2 percent, while the Cordillera Administrative Region recorded the fewest at 23,598 or 1.7 percent.
The PSA said 704,798 male and 652,405 female babies were born in 2024, compared with 753,332 males and 695,190 females the previous year. The figures include overseas Filipinos as well as foreign nationals born in the country.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline: “Fabella Hospital welcomes New Year babies in Manila”
