Israel Welcomes First Babies of New Jewish Year

Israel marked the start of the new Jewish year, Rosh Hashanah, with the arrival of its first newborns. At Shamir Medical Center, Daniel and Adrian Lardou of Ramla welcomed their first child, a son weighing 2,740 grams, marking their first Rosh Hashanah as parents. "There is no more exciting feeling than starting a new year as a mother and father for the first time," the couple stated, thanking the medical staff for their professional support.

Meanwhile, at the Northern Medical Center (Poriya), Hodaya Cohen Alalishvili from Hodiyot gave birth to her second child, a daughter weighing 3,060 grams, during Rosh Hashanah celebrations in Tiberias. Her elder daughter, two-and-a-half-year-old Noam, eagerly awaits her new sibling.

Shamir Medical Center also released its statistics for the past Jewish year, תשפ"ו (2025-2026). The hospital saw 8,800 births, averaging about 24 per day, with babies arriving from across the country. The earliest birth of the year weighed just 608 grams, while the largest was 4.985 kilograms. The hospital also delivered 116 sets of twins.

Interestingly, the gender trend reversed at Shamir this past year, with 51% of newborns being boys compared to 48% girls, a shift from previous years where more girls were born. Water births accounted for 4% of deliveries, and Cesarean sections concluded 16.5% of births, a rate lower than the national average. Professor Michal Kobo, Director of Gynecology and Obstetrics at Shamir, expressed pride in the staff's role in supporting families during these significant moments, wishing everyone a year of good news and quiet nights for new parents.