It’s a beautiful and healthy baby girl, three kilograms for first-time mum, pharmacist Sai Sruthi Sariga, 26, and Core Logic software developer first-time father, Chandra Nandigama, 29. In keeping with Hindu tradition, they must name their daughter by the 11th day after the birth.
She is officially one of the first babies born in Sydney on January 1, 2021, according to Westmead Hospital records, and will be etched in Australia’s history as well as the world’s account of babies born around the globe during the Coronavirus pandemic
“We want to name her within 11 days [since she was born] and it will be a good name we will choose from the list we have,” Sai Sruthi told Access News.
In Hindu tradition, Sai Sruthi described the baby naming ceremony as a long selection process, involving their families. Soon after a name has been chosen, they will celebrate at home with family and friends before the newborn is taken to the temple.
Their beautiful baby girl will be officially welcomed at the Sydney Murugan Temple at Mays Hill. Both mother and baby are doing well, says Chandra.
“She [Sophia] did really well and after the delivery she showed me how to hold the baby and change a nappy,” says Chandra of the midwife who delivered their baby girl by natural birth.
“It’s hard to explain the real happiness I feel as a first-time father. Sai is still recovering from giving birth so I am the one changing the nappy and helping to look after the baby,” says Chandra.
On New Year’s Day, Sai Sruthi said they were “overwhelmed” by the media interest on their baby girl with 7 News, Nine News and 2GB interviewing them.
The baby had taken a lot of attention on TV and radio news but Sai Sruthi and Chandra prefer to show her off on Zoom and Facetime to their families back home in South India.
“We are missing our families very much,” Sai Sruthi says. She had hoped to have her parents by her side in labour from 9am in the morning till midnight on January 1.
The couple’s baby is among the 371,504 babies born around the world on New Year’s Day according to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund or UNICEF.
According to time zones, the first baby was born in Fiji.
UNICEF has launched its Coronavirus global pandemic response, Reimagine, a campaign to prevent the COVID-19 crisis having a long-lasting effect on children.
For the next 12 months of 2021, as the world continues to wrestle with Coronavirus and deliver the vaccine, an estimated 140 million babies will be born with an average life expectancy of 84 years.
UNICEF says the most popular baby names in 2021 for Japanese parents will be Masaru for boys and Kazuko for the girls; China will name their boys Ming and the girls, Shulan; Danes will have Erik and Kristen; Israel will take Moshe and Esther; Koreans will name Yeong-ho for boys and Yeong-ja for girls; and Americans will keep traditional names, James and Mary, while Germany takes Hans and Renate.
UNICEF believes Australia and the United Kingdom will share the same favourite names for their newborns, Margaret and John.
