New Year babies: The first MSF newborns of 2026

As clocks around the world struck midnight on 31 December, the new year brought in new life. MSF maternity teams supported mothers to deliver their babies safely, and here is a selection of the first born in 2026.

They include a pregnant woman who arrived at the MSF facility on motorbike!

Somalia

On 1 January, 21-year-old Khadija welcomed her fourth child into the world at the MSF-supported Bay Regional Hospital in the city of Baidoa. She still remembers the difficult experience of delivering her first child at home in the rural neighbourhood of Galdiri, far from medical care. The struggle and fear she faced during that birth became a turning point. From that moment on, Khadija decided that she would only give birth in a health facility, where skilled medical assistance is available when it is most needed.

This new year, her decision brought reassurance and safety. For Khadija, the birth of her baby daughter was not only the arrival of a new life, but also a reminder of how access to quality maternity care can change outcomes for mothers and babies alike — turning hard lessons from the past into safer beginnings for the future.

Afghanistan

Just after midnight, MSF teams in Helmand and Khost were standing ready—not only to welcome the new year, but also to greet the first babies of 2026. Five minutes into the year, Mohammad, weighing 3 kg, was born at the MSF-supported Boost Hospital in Helmand, becoming the first baby delivered by MSF teams in Afghanistan in 2026 and a precious gift to his family.

“I am very happy because this is my first child,” his mother shared.

At 12.12 am, another baby boy arrived at the MSF Khost Maternity Hospital. He has not yet been named and was born underweight, but his condition is stable. His mother and family were overjoyed at his arrival, especially after she had experienced several miscarriages.

In 2025, MSF teams assisted with more than 52,700 deliveries in Afghanistan, which is home to some of MSF's biggest maternity units in the world.

Haiti

Darlene gave birth to a baby born in the early hours of 1 January 2026. The baby was born in MSF's maternity unit in Port-à-Piment, in the southern region of Haiti. Still reeling from the 2021 earthquake, the region has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country, at 343.9 deaths per 100,000 births. For context, the UK's maternal mortality rate is 12.8 deaths per 100,000 births.

In response, MSF, in partnership with the Ministry of Health, offers emergency obstetric and neonatal services in Port-à-Piment, where teams assist with deliveries, including those requiring specialist care.

Pakistan

At 12.03 am, the first baby of the year was delivered at MSF's maternity unit, in the district headquarters hospital in Dera Murad Jamali, eastern Balochistan province, Pakistan. His mother, 35-year-old Sonia, reached the hospital on her family's own motorbike from her home in the town of Bakhtiyarabad. To celebrate this special moment, the MSF team presented her with a baby kit, including soup, a towel, and clothes to wrap her newborn. Sonia was overjoyed and shared her New Year wishes with the whole team.

Since 2008, the MSF-supported facility offers 24-hour basic emergency obstetric and newborn care, assisted deliveries, postnatal consultations, family planning, and nutrition support for pregnant and lactating women. Complicated cases are referred to health facilities in Sindh province, with MSF covering transport and ensuring continuity of care.

At 1.55 am, the first baby of the Kuchlak birthing unit in Quetta arrived, and he is also a boy. He has been named Ahmad Bilal and weighs 2.56 kg. Bilal is 27-year-old Lawang’s first baby.

MSF started its mother and child healthcare programme in Kuchlak, a town 20 km north of Quetta city, in 2006. We provide basic emergency obstetric care through the birthing unit, open 24-hours a day. Complicated emergency obstetric cases are referred to Quetta. Other services include health education and psychosocial counselling.

Ethiopia

Baby Ozyan Mesay was born on 1 January at Korem General Hospital to 26-year-old Felegehiwet Assefa Kahsay.

Felegehiwet said:

“I’m so happy to receive the service you provided to me, and this is my third baby boy. I really appreciate the whole service starting from the welcoming staff, quality care during delivery and taking care of my baby soon after the delivery. I heard about the service before and it was more than my expectations, thank you!”

Sudan

A baby girl was the first newborn of 2026 at Tawila Hospital in North Darfur. 

Her mother, Weedad, is 17 years old and lives in Argo Camp, which is one of the places hosting thousands of displaced people who fled to Tawila after violence escalated in the region. She fled Zamzam camp with her family a few months ago. 

During 2025, North Darfur was one of the main hotspots of conflict in Sudan, leaving hundreds of thousands of people displaced and without basic services.

Zahra Mohammad Hassan welcomed the first baby born on 1 January at the El Geneina Teaching Hospital in West Darfur. She came from Aleskan village, which is nearly an hour and a half on foot away from El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur.

El Geneina Teaching Hospital is one of the few functioning public hospitals serving the area and the only public one with specialist doctors in West Darfur. Throughout 2025, maternal mortality rates were alarmingly high. Access to safe delivery services was extremely limited, forcing many women to give birth at home with traditional birth attendants who often lacked proper training and equipment, placing both mothers and newborns at serious risk.

In response, MSF has partnered with a local Sudanese NGO, providing financial support to enable them to manage non-complicated deliveries while MSF teams handle the complicated cases in this hospital in collaboration with the Ministry of Health. Since June 2025, together with this partnership, we have supported about approaching 3,000 safe deliveries as a total.

Malik is Sara's fourth child. In the early hours of 1 January, she came to the hospital from the nearby location where her family had been living for the past five months. They were displaced from El Fasher, a city which faced mass atrocities during the war in Sudan in 2025.

Sara and her husband decided to flee because life there was very tough, and they wanted to find a safer place for their children.

However, they long for the day when El Fasher will be safe again so they can return and be reunited with their family, who are there and in other nearby displacement camps.