Smiles, celebrations and a lot of happiness were the main ingredients of this morning at the Alfredo da Costa Maternity Hospital, in Lisbon, where the officially the first child of the year in the district was born. Her name is Diana, she is healthy and the birth went within normal limits. “She was born at midnight, weighs 2,580 kilograms and is a girl”, confirmed to the DN obstetrician Ana Isabel Machado, who added that it was a child of Nepalese parents living in Portugal. Through a partnership between Diário de Notícias and Continente, which rewards the first baby to be born in the district of Lisbon in 2022, parents will be presented with a gift voucher worth 250 euros that can be used in the supermarket chain.

The birth of little Diana happened to the sound of the launch of fireworks that painted the city’s sky at midnight, celebrating the arrival of a new year and, albeit unwittingly, a new cycle for the Kandel family. “We knew she could be born around this time, but we didn’t know when. I was very happy when a nurse told me she was born at midnight,” says emotionally, 32-year-old Astha Kandel’s mother.

Originally from Nepal, Astha and her family have lived in Portugal for five years, the country where they chose to raise Diana and her six-year-old brother. Despite everything going smoothly, the hospital confirms that “the mother tested positive for covid-19 after giving birth”, but that both mother and baby are doing well and without any symptoms. Asked when she can return home, Astha Kandel clarifies that “the doctors said I can come back on Monday”. “I’m fine, I feel fine and so does the baby. Everything went very well, the birth was normal and as nurses they helped me a lot”, she adds.

The beginning of the new year could not have started in a better way for this immigrant family, which not only welcomed a new member, but also received a gift voucher worth 250 euros. This offer is the result of a partnership between Diário de Notícias and Continente, which wanted to reward the first baby to be born in the district of Lisbon. The prize can be used to purchase products from the range intended for babies, such as foodstuffs or diapers, and the mother will be guaranteed help for the first months of Diana’s life. “I’m very happy,” he says.

Diana thus joins the list of the first children to be born in Portugal in 2022, which includes Martim Ferreira (00:01 am in Abrantes), Maria Ventosa (00:02 am in Viana do Castelo) and Ivana Pereira (00:46 am in Porto), among others. It should be remembered that the country has faced, for several decades, a growing problem with the low birth rate, which hit records in the first half of 2021. During this period, only 37,700 babies were born, the lowest value in the last 30 years, according to with data from the Ricardo Jorge National Institute.