Being the first baby born in Ireland in 2013 must have given Leo Maples a head start.

“He was walking up against the chairs at eight and a half months, he started walking fully at 10 months and I can’t stop him now,” laughs his mother, Carmel McNamara.

“I have child-locks on every one of my presses.”

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Carmel, who lives in Kilmihil, Co Clare, with her partner Charles Maples and their two older children, Kelly (10) and Áine (two and a half), had originally been given a due date of 8 January. When Carmel went into labour on New Year’s Eve, the last thing she expected was that Leo would arrive at exactly one minute past midnight.

“It went so quick with the other two girls, I thought I’d have him by eight or 9pm,” she recalls. “I remember my sisters saying: ‘Make sure now you hold on till 12.’ But I wasn’t going to delay.”

FIRST BORN

One little girl who caused great excitement when she arrived at one second past midnight at Kerry General Hospital in 2008, was Kaitlyn O’Connell.

“Just as the new year bells took off on the radio, she was out into the world,” recalls proud mum Amanda, who lives in Abbeydorney, Co Kerry, with her husband TJ, Kaitlyn (now almost six) and youngest daughter Éabha (11 months.)

Kaitlyn was due to arrive on 29 December 2007 and Amanda jokes her only concern was that she would miss her Christmas dinner if Kaitlyn arrived early. When she went into labour on New Year’s Eve, the date was the last thing on her mind.

“I was just concentrating on getting through the labour,” says Amanda. “They had the TV and radio on and I could hear the whole countdown and they had just said ‘one’ and the next thing, she was up on top of my tummy.”

However, it wasn’t until the following morning that Amanda realised Kaitlyn’s arrival had caused quite a stir when the newspapers started to call, followed by a TV crew. Kaitlyn’s celebrity status continued for quite some time.

“For setting up accounts you’d need her birth certificate, so even going into the post office a week or two later, all the staff came out and wanted pictures with her,” says Amanda.

“Even six years on, it still causes a bit of a buzz. The only downside is that she can’t have a party with all her friends because no one is around on New Year’s Day. For now it’s a hindrance for her, but obviously when she gets older, New Year’s Eve will be a great night.”

Amanda jokes that it could have been a case of second time lucky when her daughter Éabha arrived in January 2013.

“I was due around 20 January, but they thought I was going to go earlier because the baby was very low and I’d be lucky to see Christmas,” she explains.

“A few people said: ‘I hope you’re not aiming for another new year’s baby?’ I just thought: ‘Oh no, I’ll look like I’m planning it.’”

EXCITEMENT

In fact, Éabha didn’t arrive until 29 January, but 1 January 2013 was especially hectic at Our Lady of Lourdes hospital in Drogheda, with five babies born between 4am and 10am. Midwife Martina Riley – who lives in Kentstown, Co Meath, with her husband Paul Finnegan and their four children – says there is a lot of excitement at New Year’s Eve.

“The new arrivals brighten up the new year,” explains Martina, who spent 10 years on the labour ward and now cares for the new mums and their little bundles in postnatal.

“The country has great interest in which hospital delivers the first New Year’s Day baby and each maternity hospital would like to be the first.”

Indeed, Martina remembers the anticipation around which hospital would deliver the first baby of the millennium. The honour went to The Coombe, where Caroline McGarr was born a second past midnight.

Excitement aside, for some parents, ie those who are GAA-mad, a birth cert that reads 1 January has certain advantages over one that says 31 December.

“If the women were in labour on New Year’s Eve, some of the dads would want the mum to hold on to the baby until the new year,” says Martina.

“Otherwise, the child will be playing with children a year older than them, so if they’re into sports at all, they say: ‘Oh, hold on.’

“But for the woman in labour, there’s no holding on. Of course it’s mostly the men having the craic, but that’s the last thing you want to hear.”

However, Martina stresses that all maternity staff are committed to the safe delivery of mum and their new arrivals, no matter what day it is.