Parents don't understand why birth is considered `great event'

Parents don't understand why birth is considered `great event'
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

THE world might be raving about millennium babies, but the four confirmed midnight births in the City Government hospitals meant no extra happiness for the parents.

While two babies were recorded as born at the stroke of midnight at the Government Hospital for Women and Children, another was born ``a second past midnight'' at the Kasturba Gandhi Hospital. A minute later, the Kilpauk Medical College saw the birth of its millennium baby. Of the four newborns two males and two females two were premature. All were natural deliveries.

Amrutham Ayyanar and her newborn weighing 2.8 kg were sleeping on the floor in ward 119 when The Indian Express visited them at the Government Hospital for Women and Children. She did not know why the birth is considered a ``great incident.'' Neither does her husband.

At the same time, in the same hospital, Usha Venugopal delivered a female baby. She had had her `valakappu' just yesterday. ``I never dreamt of having a baby so soon. I was carrying less than nine months, but itjust happened,'' she said, happy that the baby is well.

``God's gift,'' says T Venugopal, who works for a private company. ``We never planned to have what you call the millennium baby. My friends were telling me that I would miss being a millennium father since the delivery was due sometime by January-end. Now I am one, but I fail to understand the importance of that.''