8,428 babies to be born on New Year’s Day in Bangladesh: Unicef

An estimated 8,428 babies will be born in Bangladesh on New Year’s Day, Unicef said today. Bangladeshi babies will account for 2.13 per cent of the estimated 395,072 babies to be born on New Year’s Day.

In cities around the world, revelers will welcome not only the New Year with great festivities but also their newest and tiniest residents.

In neighbouring India, 69,944 babies will be born and in Pakistan, 15,112 babies are estimated to be born, according to a Unicef release.

As the clock strikes midnight, Sydney will greet an estimated 168 babies, followed by 310 in Tokyo, 605 in Beijing, 166 in Madrid and finally, 317 in New York.

Fiji in the Pacific will most likely deliver 2019’s first baby; the United States, its last. A quarter of all babies will be born in South Asia alone. Globally, over half of these births are estimated to take place in eight countries:

*India — 69,944
*China — 44,940
*Nigeria — 25,685
*Pakistan — 15,112
*Indonesia — 13,256
*The United States — 11086
*The Democratic Republic of Congo — 10,053
*Bangladesh — 8,428

Around the world on January 1, families will welcome countless Alexanders and Ayeshas, Zhengs and Zainabs. But in several countries, many babies will not even be named as they won’t make it past their first day.

In 2017, about 1 million babies died the day they were born, and 2.5 million in just their first month of life. Among those children, most died from preventable causes such as premature birth, complications during delivery, and infections like sepsis and pneumonia, a violation of their basic right to survival.

“This New Year Day, let’s all make a resolution to fulfill every right of every child, starting with the right to survive,” said said Charlotte Petri Gornitzka, UNICER Deputy Executive Director.

“We can save millions of babies if we invest in training and equipping local health workers so that every newborn is born into a safe pair of hands.”

Source: thedailystar